There are many immigrants that come to a country from different backgrounds. Some of them find it so difficult to involve in brand new cultures. Although some of them adjust well, most are torn apart by the inconsistencies. Sun-Kyung Yi (1992) poses a question as to whether she is Canadian or Korean in different circumstances. In her writing ‘An Immigrant’s Split Personality’, she waved at her teachers while she had to bow to her parent’s friends visiting her home. There is a struggle in a coalition of worlds for such children who have to grow up with two cultures
In Isabel Vincent‘s story (n.d.), her father migrated to Canada. The author gave an account of how new immigrants deal with new environment as well as keeping their heritage. Using her mother as an example of heritage, she attributed the new pants to a new culture and explains how they try to fit in with hardship to change. She shows how a Portuguese family was trying to find their identity in the Canadian Society and how she and her brother deal with being both Canadian and Portuguese. Their classmates would find it hard to pronounce their names forcing a change of typical Portuguese name to an Anglo Saxon soft name so that his fellow children and teacher could pronounce without difficulty and embarrassment. This is a show of unequivocal manifestation that the young children were going through a lot of struggle to be able to fit into the new culture.
Another story of issues faced by children who grow up with two cultures is that of a Canadian journalist, Jan Wong. The story of her workplace depression is simply a kill-or-cure. It is compared to a wound and sounds like home surgery as if one stuck the foot in black water and failed to get it back. A lot of racist attacks were aimed at her with hounds and death threats. She laments that she was left to struggle with her situation alone (Wong, 1998). This pill was too bitter to swallow. In one incident of attack, she was torn in between English and Chinese. Screaming in Chinese would tip tones of unhappy image from the past. English was more comfortable for her sake of fitting in. Due to depression, Wong had to travel with her son’s hockey team to Helsinki and then to Paris to cure from the harsh conditions bequeathed upon her shoulders to bear. The existence of two cultures in her growth is evidently impacting so much in her life and she faced long struggles to cope.
‘The Other Family’ by Himani Bannerji (1999) is another perfect example of how new immigrants get influenced by the new lifestyle along with the new culture; particularly on children, due to new style of education. In her story a young girl changes her point of view of family. This is as a result of the thoughts instilled in her from her teacher (Bannerji, 1999). It is likely that she was trying to mix up in the new environment. She tried to fit in by dressing up like other kids as well as adopting their habits. However, her parents thought that she was going out of their ways and control. It is an ironical situation that her parents have brought her here to give her better way of life and flourishing life but now when she is trying to dissolve into new culture, they think that she is tripping and she is losing their ways. This is a major problem that the conservative parents and a child growing up with two cultures face while settling up in new country.
In conclusion, psychological stress and depression are likely to affect immigrants. They are among the major problems that face children growing with two cultures. The children have to deal with their heritage and the new environment all together. The families are also affected. There are more obstacles that one has to grow up against when they have two different cultures. All in all, they have to learn to cope and thrive in the hardness.
References
Yi, S. (1992). An Immigrant’s Split Personality. The Maple Collection (p. 145). Toronto: Nelson
Education.
Wong, J. (1998). Jan Wong Wants to See Canadians De-Hyphenate Themselves. The Maple
Collection Reader (p.149). Toronto: Nelson Education.
Vincent, I. (n.d.). Finding a Nationality That Fits. The Maple Collection Reader (p.153).
Toronto: Nelson Education.
Bannerji, H. (1999). The Other Family.
