Different Perspectives Of Culture Essay

The Different Perspectives Of Culture

By definition culture is “A learned meaning system that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, meanings and symbols that are passed on from one generation to the next.” I personally have a large family, so we have many different opinions and beliefs on certain things and I have seen the effects of separate cultures. The actions and beliefs of different people have led to conflict in countries and lives of people. Culture plays a major role through actions, beliefs, and memories.

In the essay “An Indian Father’s Plea” by Robert Lake, there are many ways that beliefs, connect to the way culture impacts our perspectives on others. For example, Wind-Wolf, Medicine Grizzlybears son, was scared to make friends at school because he felt as though they thought he did not think he believed in god. Wind-Wolf was afraid he would not be liked because of how

his culture was viewed by his peers. (Lake 78), “Because you are Indians and we are white, and I don’t want my kids growing up with your kind of people.” They were viewed by their culture and denied friendship by somebody they did not know. People look at culture and choose to pick out whatever they have heard that is negative and ignore the positive. When denied friendship because of their beliefs, it shows how people view culture and how strongly they allow to let that impact their decisions on who they associate with. If culture has this large of an effect on children who don’t even truly understand it, the effect on adults must be higher.

In the poem My Mother Pieced Quilts by Teresa Acosta, she remembers how her mother's quilts and the memories helped them through the tough times and affected them in a major way.

Teresa and her siblings needed the quilts “as weapons, against pounding January winds” (Acosta 54 ), letting her children know how important the quilts their mother created were very important to their heritage and culture. As their childhood blossomed, the quilts continued to be a mainstay and an important memory to her and her siblings. Her mother was the “caravan master at the reigns”( Acosta 55 ), proving the mother to be a key figure in their early life and that she led them through the bad times and good. The quilts were sewn “hard and taut to withstand the thrashings of 25 years” (Ascota 55), showing how long the quilts lasted and how long they had an affect on the culture of her children. The mother knitted these quilts, which in turn the memories and quilts affected her children’s culture for many years to come and created a lasting effect in their heretical

culture.

In the short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, it talks about how two granddaughters, Maggie and Dee, show two different sides of their culture. The first granddaughter was greatly influenced by by her culture. “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” (Walker 64) This was a sign of appreciation of her heritage. Maggie symbolized her culture. She stuck with her grandmother and learned many things from her. So grew up with her so much that her grandmother had many great things for her. One way she showed her grandmother affection was reading to her grandmother also. On the other hand Dee, also known as Wangero didn’t really praise her culture. She was never glad about they way she was brought up. “Dee wanted nice things.” (Walker 60) “Yellow organdy dress to wear to her graduation from high school.” (Walker 60) She felt like where she came from life just wasn’t enough. Later on as she left her family and came back, she was a new person. “She’s dead.” “I couldn’t bear it any longer, being named after the people who oppress me.” (Walker 62) She concluded with this statement that she felt like being named after someone was like being owned. So she changed her culture ending up with a new name change. So later in the story when it was time for Dee to leave she wanted the quilts. She wanted to sell them because they were so old, but her grandmother had a different opinion.

To get back to the point, some people deal with and incorporate culture in their lives in different ways. When you decide to get married, people change themselves completely to be with that person and connect spiritually and culturally. I have seen a christian woman change her religion to Muslim in order to be with her love. As you grow and explore more in life, you will see more and have many different perspectives about culture formed inside your relationships and interactions with other people and cultures.