The Buddha in The Attic
A path less traveled by is often depicted as a path of self-motivation and loneliness, that is when one finds oneself alone in the vast sea of people. Forcing one to either quit or search for acceptance to get support and opportunities to succeed. Easier said than done, acceptance is the most common struggles one has – to be recognized and share feelings and thoughts of one’s own. These struggles ranging from culture to morals to geographical and societal borders are epitomized by the Japanese picture brides in Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic as the brides transform into a new culture to show the situational paradoxes Japanese faced during the time period in which they find intriguing by prejudice against them divided
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Living on the border of California towns, brides are not welcome in the white communities. “We settled on the edges of their towns, when they would let us” (22-3). It puts a pressure on their geographic location and adds difficulty to be recognized and transform into their culture. From the beginning of time, women have been treated inferior to their male counterparts and this is a key picture as the brides in search for acceptance. The phrase “… when they would let us…” proved that gender and race prejudices have power to move them around. The brides learned to revolve their lives to find acceptance by the general society by playing the correct gender role of submissiveness. “Most of us on the boat were accomplished, and were sure we would make good wives. We knew how to cook and sew. We knew how to serve tea and arrange flowers and sit quietly on our flat wide feet for hours… A girl must blend into a room; she must be present without appearing to exist” (6-7). The geographical factor is not the only thing that created a culture distance. Japanese identities were rejected from white culture. Without identity, their husband and their community will never accept them;
The thirteenth chapter of Buddha Boy starts off with Justin, Megan, and Jakob are sitting together at The Pride of Rucher Assembly. The usual students who receive awards are announced and McManus receives the awards, Outstanding Student Athlete and Student Leadership, which Justin is annoyed by. But surprisingly Jinsen receives an award for his banner and embodying the best of the student body. When it is time to leave school, Meg lost her keys so Justin and Meg head backstage to find them. But when entering the auditorium, they see the remains of Jinsen’s banner, which is destroyed. Justin notices Jinsen is looking at the banner, his eyes slits and angry, wanting revenge, but Justin tells Jinsen don’t and grabs the remains of the poster.
'Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back.' (Sone 124). This statement is key to understanding much of the novel, Nisei Daughter, written by Monica Sone. From one perspective, this novel is an autobiographical account of a Japanese American girl and the ways in which she constructed her own self-identity. On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures.
The Buddha was and is an important figure in several different cultures, and his influence has spread over large areas. Across these different cultures, many forms of art portrayed him in different ways. In Japan, one of the Buddha’s titles stood out as the “Amida Buddha.” The statue that this paper will be detailing portrays “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light” (“Amida”). The statue is located in the Dayton Art Institute’s Japanese Art Gallery 105 with the acquisition number 1935.1. Created in the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period, this statue stands out in the Dayton Art Institute as a prominent Buddha figure. It is made of wood with lacquer and gilt, and it was built to be approximately the size of a normal person.
Some were as young as fourteen while some were mothers who were forced to leave their child behind in Japan, but for these women the sacrifice will be worth it once they get to San Francisco. Yet, the women desired a better life separate from their past, but brought things that represent their culture desiring to continue the Buddha traditions in America; such as, their kimonos, calligraphy brushes, rice paper, tiny brass Buddha, fox god, dolls from their childhood, paper fans, and etc. (Otsuka, 2011, p. 9) A part of them wanted a better life full of respect, not only toward males but also toward them, and away from the fields, but wanted to continue the old traditions from their home land. These hopes of a grand new life was shattered when the boat arrived to America for none of the husbands were recognizable to any of the women. The pictures were false personas of a life that didn’t really exist for these men, and the men were twenty years older than their picture. All their hopes were destroyed that some wanted to go home even before getting off the boat, while others kept their chins up holding onto their hope that maybe something good will come from this marriage and walked off the boat (Otsuka, 2011, p.
Despite the desperate attempts to Americanize immigrants, the first and second generations did not let go of all of their traditional ideals and beliefs. Even so, they did not continue unscathed by the process. However, these ideals from the Old Country helped them "meet the challenge" (Ewen, 266). This culture became a mutual protection for immigrants against the scarcity and struggle of tenement life. It also provided a bond for the community and was the foundation for their survival. As the years passed, immigrants eventually succumbed to American ideals, but they have not totally given up their culture now that they are considered Americans. Even so, one can look back on this period and see the significant struggle that women had between customary ideas and the assurance of modernity.
Jaclyn Geller’s “Undercover at the Bloomingdales’s Registry” explores the world of a bride to be and reflects on the experiences of a bride preparing for a new chapter in her life. Under the name Jackie, Geller steps inside the world of the soon-to-be married. Through these experiences and observations, Geller provides the reader with a glimpse at the different ways in which society encourages domesticity, companionship and romance upon women in a martial relationship.
When an immigrant from a foreign land comes to America, immigrants hope to fulfill their golden dreams in the land of the free; however, as they quickly learn shortly after they arrive in America, their new lives are filled with hardships and disillusions. A picture bride, who arrives in America with a dream of living with a wealthy, successful, and handsome young man, is frequently disappointed to discover the realities such as the appearance and lifestyle of her future husband. When Hana first meets Taro, she discovers that “[Taro] no longer resemble[s] the early photo [his] parents sent [Hana]…he was already turning bald” (Uchida, 12). This shock of reality is not uncommon to picture brides, in fact, “many men in America send pictures to picture brides of themselves from when they were ten to twenty years younger…next to a beautiful car—owned by their boss” (Bunting, 1). Picture brides and immigrants arrive in America filled with hopes for a better life for themselves and their children and a wonderful new life in America. The shock and dissatisfaction immigrants and picture brides experience when they first arrive in America greatly contribute to their change in attitude from an optimistic mindset to a cowardly, hesitant behavior. Furthermore, picture brides quickly discover that their husbands were not wealthy business owners, as the men claimed in their letters, but their husbands were rather poor men, trying to scrape a living, and this reality check contributes further to immigrants’ hopeless outlook to their new life. Hana is stunne...
Every year about a million immigrants come to America in hope to start a better life for their family. They leave with virtually nothing, just the clothes on their backs and a few, hard earned coins. As they start a new life here in the United States, most immigrants tend to notice the drastic differences that are present between their culture and Western society, particularly in the way women are supposed to talk and behave. In the excerpt from “Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts,” Maxine Hong Kingston addresses these hardships as a Chinese girl who is searching for her voice in America. During the excerpt, Kingston portrays fitting into these “cultural expectations” as absolutely necessary, as shown in the last paragraph in Page 10. She says things like “If you don’t talk… then you can’t be a house wife.” Or “Don’t you ever want to be a cheerleader?” (Kingston 10) At the time of this scene, the narrator was so sure that the American way was the right way, that she bullies a younger student into changing. Alas the student never changes and the narrator falls sick for a year and a half because of her ill actions. However, plenty has changed since that time of the Korean War (1950’s.) Nowadays, these expectations of what is an American woman are changing. Compared to the 1950’s, women currently are holding much more power, and are viewed as a superior sex symbol.
As the four women entered America, which is far from their motherland China, they experience a change of culture, the American culture, which was dominant than the Chinese. The Chinese mothers are faced with a difficult task of how to raise their American-born daughters with an understanding of their heritage. The daughters clearly show a gap in culture between the Chinese culture and American culture. The mothers wanted their daughter to follow the Chinese traditions, but the daughters followed the American traditions and even some of them got married to American men. The mothers tried to tell their daughters the story about the Chinese ancestors but the daughter could not follow them and the daughters thought their mothers were backwards and did not know what they are saying. As much as the mothers tried to show love to their daughters, the daughters usually responded negatively. They often saw their mothers’ attempts to guidance as a failure to understand the American culture. Being Chinese and living in America, both the mothers and the daughters struggle with many issues like identity, language, translation, and others. The mothers try to reconcile their Chinese pasts with their American presents; the daughters try to find a balance between independence and loyalty to their heritage
Maechi Wabi’s journey illustrates the relationship of vipassana meditation because of the suffering that she goes through to become a nun. Through her journey to become a nun, she learns that to become a nun in Bangkok you need to have money. Without much of money, she goes through difficulties to difficulties to find a place where she can stay, practices meditation and learn Buddhism. Vipassana meditation means “to see clearly” (43 Brown). While Maechi Wabi practices vipassana meditation, she learns a lot about the nun and her inner self. Wabi starts to understand the idea of rebirth and suffering (the Buddhist truth) as she continues practicing meditation. The more she meditates, the more she gained an understanding of suffering, karmic and notices that everyone, including herself, is suffering because of the karmic that they have had builds in their past
Buddhism is a beautifully complex religion that since its widespread introduction to Japanese culture by the end of the seventh century has made enormous impacts and direct influences on the government and cultural practices of society (Hoffmann 36). The Japanese death poetry composed by Zen monks and haiku poets, compiled by Albert Hoffmann, is an excellent literary explication of the Japanese attitude towards death. This attitude is most notably derived from Buddhism, the main religion of the Japanese people. Even Japanese citizens who are not literal Buddhists still embrace the philosophies that have now become instilled in the cultural history of Japan due to such a heavy Buddhist influence on government and education throughout the centuries.
Throughout Asian American literature there is a struggle between Asian women and their Asian American daughters. This is the case in The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan and also in the short story "Waiting for Mr. Kim," written by Carol Roh-Spaulding. These two stories are very different, however they are similar in that they portray Asian women trying to get their American daughters to respect their Asian heritage. There are certain behaviors that Asian women are expected to have, and the mothers feel that their daughters should use these behaviors.
Thích Nh’at Hanh is a world renowned Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, religious figure and accomplished writer. Living Buddha, Living Christ is only one of his many famous publications. Thích Nh’at Hanh, is famous for his insights into spiritual heritage and mindfulness in the present moment. Many Americans are seeking religious understanding and personal spirituality, even if they do not practice in the traditional manner. Throughout this book Nh’at Hang encourages readers to find meaning, understanding, mindfulness, and peace in the teachings of Buddha and Christ. His main focus is to open meaningful dialogue between different traditions, cultures, and religious groups around the world, for the betterment
Analysis of Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen The book Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen, caught my attention and became more interesting to me than I thought. I have always heard of the religion Buddhism, but I never knew what it was all about. I never thought that Buddhism was as huge as it is. I knew that it existed in other countries, but I never knew what exact countries. Many of the views in this book surprised me and the book taught me a lot about morals and better ways to live your life.
In addition, shortly thereafter, she and a small group of American business professionals left to Japan. The conflict between values became evident very early on when it was discovered that women in Japan were treated by locals as second-class citizens. The country values there were very different, and the women began almost immediately feeling alienated. The options ...