By Kristie F.
In Stealing Buddha's Dinner, by Bich Minh Nguyen, Nguyen illustrated the strong dichotomy between longing for what others have and appreciating what actually is. Bich's relationship with her stepmother is complex; she longs to be American while Rosa defies it. Rosa, white hateful towards white American traditions, is cultures and aware in ways that Bich is not. Bich's awareness of her own ignorance causes her to resent her stepmother for not being like her friend's mothers, and for not seasoning their family in a more American fashion.
When Bich finally reacts in a less than respectful manner towards her stepmother, she is shown how ignorant she has been in regards to her own family and traditions. Her action of shouting to Rosa that Rosa was not her real mother is countered with Rosa's action of becoming exactly the kind of mother that Bich wished her to become. With this, Bich realizes that she was wrong for wanting Rosa to be like everyone else. Bich is lucky to have a woman that teaches her resilience; a mother that does not feed her food with artificial flavoring; a mother that tries her best. This lesson is shown through her reflection when she states, "for a long time, the sting of the words I had thrown at Rosa stayed with me. She was not, in fact, my real mother, but I never said it again" (129).
Kristie, I agree that Bich's less than respectful manner towards her stepmother was eye opening for Bich in realizing that her own way is not always the right way. Do you think that maybe her outburst had any connection to her realization that she does have choices and the ability to make decisions, just as her step sister Crissy had the choice to say when she couldn't attend certain events?
ReplyDeleteStephanie K.
This is an interesting analysis of the relationship between Bich and Rosa. I believe that Kristie is driving at the root of the constant conflict between Bich and her stepmother. Although, reading this post made me curious as to Rosa's status as a "good mother." While it is true that Rosa looks after Bich and her siblings, she also suppresses Bich's identity in ways that are not conducive to healthy maturation. When Rosa began reading Bich's diary, I began to question her morality and her quality as a parental figure. While I agree that Rosa provides some positive "tough love" in her encouragement of Bich's Vietnamese ethnicity (i.e. "that's how the Vietnamese do things"), I think that she does as much damage as she does good. By invading Bich's privacy, she stifles her self-expression and thus hinders the development of her identity. By Ryan B.
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DeleteI can understand that Rosa's role as a mother might have been jeopardize when she read the diary, but than what parent is perfect. The action by Rosa of treating Bich as her own daughter should show significance of a good mother. She was willing to protect Bich from herself at the extreme of her becoming the villain in Bich's eyes. For a parent to take on the stern hand is difficult, so I cannot measure the good equal to the bad Rosa done. If the evil is reading the diary and the good is protecting culture, I would feel that the good will be more beneficial. The actions taken by Rosa to teach Bich the lesson of what matters in life was a bit extreme, but that I would say is Rosa's love for Bich. Rosa was hurt by Bich's statement of saying that Rosa is not her mother. It must of killed Rosa to think that all her efforts to be apart of the family, she still seen as an outsider. Bich should be able to relate to Rosa in the conversation of exiling someone for not being the same as the majority
Mark L.
This is a really nice perspective on both sides because I think that, as we read from Bich's perspective, we can lose track of Rosa's position and her reasons for what she does as she does. That being said, I can also sympathize with Bich's position in that she is not cultured and aware in many of the ways that Rosa is, so whether or not she should fully embrace Americanism, it is understandable that she at least wants firm ground to stand on when dealing with American culture. While Rosa has her reasons for rejecting white American culture, she must also take into account that her family is surrounded by whiteness, so at least having some understanding of that culture is necessary for Bich to navigate it. Bich cannot live in a white world and be apart from it at the same time.
ReplyDeleteBy Norma G.
Kristie, I really enjoyed your idea of when and how Bich's idea of what kind of a mother and woman Rosa is to her. For most of the book, Bich views Rosa as a person who is hindering her assimilation, and is also causing her embarrassment. She is not able to be grateful for Rosa's contributions to keeping Bich's Vietnamese culture alive, and wanting Bich and her sister's to love themselves. I feel that Rosa never had the intentions to embarrass Bich, or keep her from progressing into her own identity, which is, in my opinion, why she backed off when Bich told Rosa that she's not her mother. Rosa only wanted what was best for her children, regardless of her own complications in her marriage. She remained a maternal figure in Bich and Anh's life despite their own father being absent for a long time. Bich came to realize this and I agree that she then felt grateful to her for all that she had done.
ReplyDeleteBy: Michele Garrett