An Invisible Woman And Mother Tongue Comparison

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Both An Invisible Woman by Bharati Mukherjee and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan, are stories of women who have been held back and controlled by prejudice. In Mukherjee’s essay, she tells the story of herself living in Toronto and what it means to be a visible minority in big cities. Whereas, Tan speaks of her mother’s English, what it means to be a second generation Canadian, and how language and communication can hold people back. Both essays are based off the theme of prejudice, however, they are told from different perspectives and one woman seems content while the other frustrated and trapped. Mukherjee came from the very British post-colonialism city of Calcutta, India. The inspiration of her sister and her own strong self-confidence led …show more content…

Tan first presented a love for her mother. The words and candour of speech that her mother uses reminds her of home and family. Her mother’s way of speaking seems natural to Tan and shaped how she interacted and reflected on the world around her. Tan took issue with the term “broken” as a description of her mother 's language because she saw nothing broken or limited in the way that her mother was able to share ideas. The limits for her mother was not how she organized her words in her sentences but rather it was how people would treat her when they heard her speak the way she does. Tan became accustomed to dealing with authorities who would not listen to her mother 's broken language. The stockbroker who tried not to pay her and the doctor who ‘lost’ her test results. Tan however also believes that her mother limited her in the way she was able to learn and what she excelled at in school. Math and sciences came easier to Tan than language, she struggled with the ambiguity of writing. Tan out of rebellion and passion started to write seriously and went on to write novels like The Joy Luck Club with complex sentence structure and academic words. She later found that using her family and her mother’s English that she was able to see her mother for her true ideas and passion. Her story is one of a second generation …show more content…

Focusing on times in her life where she was looked at for her colour and background rather than for her talents or attributes. In Mother Tongue Tan focuses on her mother’s English and how it defines who she perceives her mother to be and the times it has limited her mother. The stories are both about women facing prejudice however, one is from the perspective of the person experiencing it and the other from the perspective of someone helping their mother face prejudice. What comes out of Mukherjee’s novel seems rawer and personal whereas Tan seems further removed and more implicated in her own issues rather than the issues related to

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