two ways to belong in america essay

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Two Ways to Belong in America - By Bharati Mukherjee

It is a fact that America is the land where one can experience many cultures. People from all around the globe come to this country to improve their lifestyle, to have better education and live the American dream to fulfil their wishes. However, there is a common misconception that every immigrant is similar; thus, they all have similar dreams. This may not be true in all cases. Different people come to America with different dreams. Even people who share the same background may have varying hopes and dreams for their future. This is what we find in Bharati Mukherjee's essay " Two Ways to Belong to America". Bharati and Mira have been exposed to the same kind of environment and situation, yet they react differently to their immigrant experiences. Mukherjee has shown that immigrants can assimilate themselves into the American culture, but if they resist cultural changes, they should not be forced to go away from America in any way by implementing any new rules which may be a betrayal. Mukherjee has expressed this by mentioning her personal experience in America.

This essay talks about Mukherjee's personal experience and the transformation that she finds in her life because of her stay in America. The title of the essay states that there are two ways to belong in America. One is to become  an expatriate hoping to be back to their home country one day , and another is to become  an immigrant by accepting every rule and regulation, culture, lifestyle and everything of the settled land .

"Two Ways to Belong in America" is a story of two sisters from Calcutta, Mira and Bharati, who are alike in appearance and attitude. They dressed alike, in saris. Both of them had identical views on politics, social issues, love, and marriage before they moved to America to pursue their further study. Both sisters had planned that they would return to India after the completion of their higher study in America and would marry the grooms their father would choose for them; however, everything did not go as planned. Later they found themselves standing on two different sides in the debates over the status of immigrants in America.

Mira went to America in 1960 to study child psychology and pre-school education whereas following her after one year, Bharati moved to the US to pursue creative writing. After two years, Mira married an Indian student in 1962 and got the labour certificate which is necessary for the green card to live legally and comfortably there. She lived there for more than 36 years with Indian citizenship, hoping that she would be back in her home country one day after her retirement. On the other hand side, Bharati married outside of her culture with her fellow student in 1963, an American of Canadian parentage. After being in a married relationship with a Canadian-American man, she knew that she had to face the emotional strain and was ready for that. She welcomed her new life: she explored herself in a new way. By choosing her husband against her father's selection, she opted for fluidity (transformation) and self-invention. She transformed herself from a sari to blue jeans and T-shirts. By doing so, she ruined her 3,000 years old caste-observation and lived in every part of North America. Her scholarly pieces have often been perused as proud writings for cultural and psychological "mongrelization" in that every text reflects that she does not feel sorry for what she has done.

Since they were the single blood relative of each other, they stayed close over phone conversations. Although both sisters have different opinions now, they still maintained polite conversation. They pitied one another. Mira sympathized with Bharati for her marriage out of her ethnic community which is erasing Indianness and unstructured lifestyle while Bharati sympathized with Mira for her narrow perception and superficial understanding of American society. Both have adopted America in their own ways based on their experiences there. Mira wants to maintain her Indian identity, but later Vice President Gore's "Citizenship USA" drive and the increase of illegal migration change the tone of the conversation between the two sisters. Mira felt manipulated, used and discarded by the American government. Mira expressed her dismay that how America can impose its new rules even upon the legal immigrants like me who invested her knowledge for the development of American pre-school and obeyed all the rules. If America is to apply its new rules curtailing benefits of legal immigrants, that should be imposed on those who enter America after those rules are already in place. This voice of Mira is not just of the immigrant South Asian community but of an immigrant community of the millions who have stayed rooted in one job, one city, one house, one ancestral culture, one cuisine, for the entirety of their productive years. Mira wants to stay in America but expresses her strong rejection of getting American citizenship. In her outrage, she snapped "If American wants to play the manipulative game, I'll play it, too." It proves that how passionately Mira clings to her Indian citizenship and hopes to go home to India by renouncing the temporary American citizenship. She is determined to maintain her Indianness. Even after a long stay in America; she resists an American transformation in her life there because she still feels it as a foreign country.

Contrariwise, Bharati has completely adopted the American culture and enjoys her new transformed lifestyle. she feels like a part of the new society. However, she also felt the same sense of betrayal in Canada that Mira feels in America when she went to Canada to live with her husband and was placed in a good job. In spite of her superior position in merit and job, she was discriminated against by the local Canadian society. The feel of betrayal in Canada forced many immigrants to leave the country. Because of the discriminatory behaviour of the Canadian government, she acknowledged the pain of Mira. Therefore, she felt the necessity of acquiring citizenship of the community no matter where (either in America or In Canada) she lives.

In conclusion, Bharati has sketched the difference between Mira and herself. Mira lives there happily as an expatriate Indian with a hope of returning to India after she gets retired rather than living there as an immigrant American whereas Bharati adopts the new American culture and is ready to encounter the trauma of self-transformation in order to become the part of the settled land. This trauma is experienced only by the immigrants like Bharati, but the expatriates like Mira escape this.

Comprehension

1. At first, how long did Mukherjee and her sister intend to stay in America? Why did they change their plans?

At first, Mukherjee and her sister intended to stay in America for two years to complete her higher education and then return to India where they would marry the grooms of their father's choosing. They changed their plans of returning to India because they married men of their own choice in America: Mira married an Indian whereas Bharati married an American of Canadian parentage.

2. What does Mukherjee mean when she says she welcomed the "emotional strain" of "marrying outside [her] ethnic community"(5)?

Mukherjee means that she was ready to face any kind of negative reaction or emotional pressure that was to come from her decision, and she was fully determined to be with her decision, no matter what may come on the way because she felt that making her own decision despite any consequences was a symbol of her strength and independence which would allow her to explore herself in a new way in the adopted culture and society.

3. In what ways is Mukherjee different from her sister? What kind of relationship do they have?

After reaching America, they had different opinions and attitudes. Bharati felt that it was not important to get stuck with her Indianness; hence, she embraced every aspect of American society to feel like a part of that society whereas her sister, Mira valued her Indian background more than anything; thus, she passionately clung to her Indian citizenship. However, they were very loving towards each other but disagreed with each other's views on citizenship.

4. Why does Mukherjee's sister feel used? Why does she say that America has "change[d] its rules in midstream" (8)?

Before Vice President Gore's "Citizenship USA", Mira was comfortable living in America legally but without citizenship. She was able to maintain her Indianness without feeling any pressure to give up her nationality or leave the country. She has honestly done her job there. She has invested a great deal of time, energy and love into her work there, but now due to the implementation of the new rule caused by Gore's "Citizenship USA", she has felt a risk of losing her Indian citizenship and stability unless she becomes an American citizen. When she says that America has "change[d] its rules in midstream", she means that the new laws for immigration should only be imposed on those who enter America after those rules are already in place.

5. According to Mukherjee, how is her sister like all immigrants who "have stayed rooted in one job, one city, one house, one ancestral culture, one cuisine, for the entirety of their productive years" (12)?

According to Mukherjee, her sister - Mira - is like all immigrants because she has a strong attachment and passion for her Indian identity despite living in America for a long time (36 years). She does not have any interest to assimilate herself into the American culture by acknowledging new rules in operation.

Purpose and Audience

1. What is Mukherjee's thesis? At what point does she state it?

The core idea of Mukherjee's writing is that nobody can have similar experiences to others in America. Everybody experiences it differently, and accordingly, they react as well. This thing she clearly states in the line "In one family, from two sisters alike as peas in a pod, there could not be a wider divergence of immigrant experiences."

2. At whom is Mukherjee aiming her remarks? Immigrants like herself? Immigrants like her sister? General readers? Explain.

At a glance, it seems that Mukherjee's remarks are aimed at her sister, Mira as she passionately maintains her Indian root but in fact, her remarks may have targeted other immigrants like herself because she seems to have understood Mira's decision of retaining her Indianness at the end of the essay when she faced the discriminatory behaviour of the Canadian government. Her realization of the validity of resisting citizenship may help others who also have the same views as Mukherjee had to understand the importance of citizenship.

3. What is Mukherjee's purpose? Is she trying to inform? To move readers to action? To accomplish something else? Explain.

The purpose of this essay is to inform rather than something else as Mukherjee has tried to convey the message to her readership that there cannot be a common and universal immigrant experience no matter what their geographical or family background is; hence, each immigrant's dreams and perspective of things are different from each other.

Style and Structure

1. What basis for comparison exists between Mukherjee and her sister? Where in the essay does Mukherjee establish this basis?

After having a minute reading of some beginning paragraphs, the establishment of the basis of comparison between the two sisters is noticed. Both sisters planned to live in the US for the same period of time (two years) to complete their higher education and then return to India. Mukherjee mentioned similarities between them before coming to the US, but when they got married in the US, they stay longer and they shared different views based on their immigrant experiences.

2. Is this essay a point-by-point or a subject-by-subject comparison? Why do you think Mukherjee chose the strategy she did?

This essay is a point-by-point comparison. Mukherjee has chosen specific points to compare her experiences and her sister's experiences. She talks about each specific point to highlight each other's experiences; for example, their views on maintaining nationality, American culture, marriage outside their ethnic community, Vice President Gore's "Citizenship USA" and the like. This pattern of comparison is appropriate here to compare each other's experiences wherever they vary in their lives.

3. What points does Mukherjee discuss for each subject? Should she have discussed any other points?

The points Mukherjee discusses are each sister's marriage, their views on Indian culture and heritage, retaining citizenship, and the choice to embrace American culture and lifestyle. These are the points that Mukherjee considers time and again throughout the entire essay as she finds her views have shifted over time with the country's changing views on immigration.

4. What transitional words and phrases does Mukherjee use to signal shifts from one point to another?

The transitional words and phrases that Mukherjee uses are "Instead... (3)", "I realize... (12)", and "Nearly 20 years ago... (13)".

5. How effective is Mukherjee's conclusion? Does it summarize the essay's major points? Would another strategy be more effective? Explain.

Mukherjee's conclusion is effective. She has concluded that no matter how different experiences one has as an immigrant, s/she has to face challenges. To stay in America comfortably, immigrants must change themselves to get assimilated into the new society. In Mukherjee's case, she has willingly adopted the new culture: the change came more willingly in her. It does never mean that she did not face challenges in Canada and that event made Mukherjee realize that challenges are almost certain to come in the life of immigrants. In her sister's case, Mira was forced to gain citizenship of America which she never wished for. She is happier to live in America as an expatriate Indian and never puts her roots down. Therefore, she avoids the trauma of self-transformation.

Vocabulary Projects

1. Define each of the following words as it is used in this selection.

2. What, according to Mukherjee, is the difference between an immigrant and an exile (15)? What are the connotations of these two words? Do you think the distinction Mukherjee makes is valid?

The term "immigrant" is used for the people like herself in America who is ready to assimilate into the new cultural and social structure, and the term "exile" is for immigrants like her sister who passionately clings to her Indian heritage. Mukherjee states that if someone is reluctant to assimilate themselves into the new structure, they are exiled from the new country. This distinction Mukherjee draws in the rest of her essay and is, therefore, an appropriate way to phrase it.

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Two Ways to Belong in America

By Bharati Mukherjee

• Sept. 22, 1996

This is a tale of two sisters from Calcutta, Mira and Bharati, who have lived in the United States for some 35 years, but who find themselves on different sides in the current debate over the status of immigrants. I am an American citizen and she is not. I am moved that thousands of long-term residents are finally taking the oath of citizenship. She is not.

Mira arrived in Detroit in 1960 to study child psychology and pre-school education. I followed her a year later to study creative writing at the University of Iowa. When we left India, we were almost identical in appearance and attitude. We dressed alike, in saris; we expressed identical views on politics, social issues, love and marriage in the same Calcutta convent-school accent. We would endure our two years in America, secure our degrees, then return to India to marry the grooms of our father's choosing.

Instead, Mira married an Indian student in 1962 who was getting his business administration degree at Wayne State University. They soon acquired the labor certifications necessary for the green card of hassle-free residence and employment.

Mira still lives in Detroit, works in the Southfield, Mich., school system, and has become nationally recognized for her contributions in the fields of pre-school education and parent-teacher relationships. After 36 years as a legal immigrant in this country, she clings passionately to her Indian citizenship and hopes to go home to India when she retires.

In Iowa City in 1963, I married a fellow student, an American of Canadian parentage. Because of the accident of his North Dakota birth, I bypassed labor-certification requirements and the race-related ''quota'' system that favored the applicant's country of origin over his or her merit. I was prepared for (and even welcomed) the emotional strain that came with marrying outside my ethnic community. In 33 years of marriage, we have lived in every part of North America. By choosing a husband who was not my father's selection, I was opting for fluidity, self-invention, blue jeans and T-shirts, and renouncing 3,000 years (at least) of caste-observant, ''pure culture'' marriage in the Mukherjee family. My books have often been read as unapologetic (and in some quarters overenthusiastic) texts for cultural and psychological ''mongrelization.'' It's a word I celebrate.

Mira and I have stayed sisterly close by phone. In our regular Sunday morning conversations, we are unguardedly affectionate. I am her only blood relative on this continent. We expect to see each other through the looming crises of aging and ill health without being asked. Long before Vice President Gore's ''Citizenship U.S.A.'' drive, we'd had our polite arguments over the ethics of retaining an overseas citizenship while expecting the permanent protection and economic benefits that come with living and working in America.

Like well-raised sisters, we never said what was really on our minds, but we probably pitied one another. She, for the lack of structure in my life, the erasure of Indianness, the absence of an unvarying daily core. I, for the narrowness of her perspective, her uninvolvement with the mythic depths or the superficial pop culture of this society. But, now, with the scapegoating of ''aliens'' (documented or illegal) on the increase, and the targeting of long-term legal immigrants like Mira for new scrutiny and new self-consciousness, she and I find ourselves unable to maintain the same polite discretion. We were always unacknowledged adversaries, and we are now, more than ever, sisters.

''I feel used,'' Mira raged on the phone the other night. ''I feel manipulated and discarded. This is such an unfair way to treat a person who was invited to stay and work here because of her talent. My employer went to the I.N.S. and petitioned for the labor certification. For over 30 years, I've invested my creativity and professional skills into the improvement of this country's pre-school system. I've obeyed all the rules, I've paid my taxes, I love my work, I love my students, I love the friends I've made. How dare America now change its rules in midstream? If America wants to make new rules curtailing benefits of legal immigrants, they should apply only to immigrants who arrive after those rules are already in place.''

To my ears, it sounded like the description of a long-enduring, comfortable yet loveless marriage, without risk or recklessness. Have we the right to demand, and to expect, that we be loved? (That, to me, is the subtext of the arguments by immigration advocates.) My sister is an expatriate, professionally generous and creative, socially courteous and gracious, and that's as far as her Americanization can go. She is here to maintain an identity, not to transform it.

I asked her if she would follow the example of others who have decided to become citizens because of the anti-immigration bills in Congress. And here, she surprised me. ''If America wants to play the manipulative game, I'll play it too,'' she snapped. ''I'll become a U.S. citizen for now, then change back to Indian when I'm ready to go home. I feel some kind of irrational attachment to India that I don't to America. Until all this hysteria against legal immigrants, I was totally happy. Having my green card meant I could visit any place in the world I wanted to and then come back to a job that's satisfying and that I do very well.''

In one family, from two sisters alike as peas in a pod, there could not be a wider divergence of immigrant experience. America spoke to me -- I married it -- I embraced the demotion from expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody, surrendering those thousands of years of ''pure culture,'' the saris, the delightfully accented English. She retained them all. Which of us is the freak?

Mira's voice, I realize, is the voice not just of the immigrant South Asian community but of an immigrant community of the millions who have stayed rooted in one job, one city, one house, one ancestral culture, one cuisine, for the entirety of their productive years. She speaks for greater numbers than I possibly can. Only the fluency of her English and the anger, rather than fear, born of confidence from her education, differentiate her from the seamstresses, the domestics, the technicians, the shop owners, the millions of hard-working but effectively silenced documented immigrants as well as their less fortunate ''illegal'' brothers and sisters.

Nearly 20 years ago, when I was living in my husband's ancestral homeland of Canada, I was always well-employed but never allowed to feel part of the local Quebec or larger Canadian society. Then, through a Green Paper that invited a national referendum on the unwanted side effects of ''nontraditional'' immigration, the Government officially turned against its immigrant communities, particularly those from South Asia.

I felt then the same sense of betrayal that Mira feels now. I will never forget the pain of that sudden turning, and the casual racist outbursts the Green Paper elicited. That sense of betrayal had its desired effect and drove me, and thousands like me, from the country.

Mira and I differ, however, in the ways in which we hope to interact with the country that we have chosen to live in. She is happier to live in America as expatriate Indian than as an immigrant American. I need to feel like a part of the community I have adopted (as I tried to feel in Canada as well). I need to put roots down, to vote and make the difference that I can. The price that the immigrant willingly pays, and that the exile avoids, is the trauma of self-transformation.

• Essay Editor

Two Ways to Belong in America Essay

1. introduction.

The beginning of this essay truly shows that there are two types of people in this word; those who can belong to more than one culture and those that can only belong to one. An explanation of this is when Bharati explains that her and Mira, both from a royal Brahmin heritage, were raised in a home where they were taught Indian culture in a time when Indians were trying to be Americanized on the outside so that their peers did not find them too different. Yet, Mira is a very patriotic American who found her husband who shares strong political beliefs about American citizenship while on the other hand Bhariti resented the fact that she is treated differently outside of her home due to her lack of culture and Americanized appearance. By discussing an event in which she became a US citizen, Bhariti demonstrates her refusal to let India define who she is. At the end of the passage, she mentions how she went to petition a green card for her Canadian husband, she was approached with a job offer that required an American citizenship to accept. In pursuit of better medical coverage for her asthma, she gladly accepts it. Although to her what defines her as an American is not the fact that she was naturalized as a citizen in Detroit, Michigan, but that she pays taxes on her wages.

1.1. Background information

Roku Tanzi and her sister Bharati were born in Calcutta, India, and moved to the USA in 1961, when their father was a student at MIT. He planned for his family to return to India, and so his daughters grew up with the expectation of one day going "home". This included a childhood of studying dance and music with other Indian immigrant families. So, when Bharati attended The Ohio State University in 1966, it was with the understanding that she was not trying to "immigrate" to America. But life in America was easier than the life their parents had left behind in India-temporary family separations so that the sisters could take advantage of better educational opportunities in their new country eventually turned into the long-term partition of the family. Tanzi married an American, and, although the marriage did not last, she too found herself making a life in the USA. The closing of the Tata - Christie South Bihar project in the late 1980s compelled Bharati, a freelance writer, to spend more time in America, and surprisingly it was Tanzi, a physicist, who went back to work in India. At present, Tanzi resides in New York, while Bharati now lives in France - the two sisters are truly divided on the issue of immigrant and identity politics. This essay is basically about the relationship Tanzi and I have to two different countries. The prompting cause for the essay was an invitation to speak at a convention on immigrant issues sponsored by the State University of New York. When Tanzi discovered that our identical topic sentences for the invitational letter led to two very different responses.

1.2. Purpose of the essay

The author, Bharati Mukherjee, has lived in both Canada and the United States, and her essay aims to define the differences between the two countries and the cultural differences through the portrayal of two different mindsets of immigrants. Throughout the essay, the author compares the lives of herself and her sister in Canada to the lives they have lived in the United States. The author seeks to define the true meaning of belonging to a country, and the differing attitudes towards culture and belonging between her and her sister helps to clearly define the two different ways immigrants can choose to live in a country. Mukherjee makes the argument that an immigrant cannot truly become a citizen of their new country if they are constantly holding onto their past culture, and her sister's aim to hold her Indian citizenship in Canada exemplifies this. On the other hand, the author becomes a citizen of the United States and has alienated herself from her Indian heritage, stating, "Proud to be a hyphenated American...I am having the last laugh". The two sisters' differing commitment to adapting to their new countries have led to different lives despite being in similar situations, however the author seems to feel that her embrace of American culture has led to a more fulfilling life.

2. First Way to Belong in America: Assimilation

The concept of assimilation involves a process in which people develop an understanding that they are related to each other through common experiences, especially through the experiences of constructing communities and social institutions (Karlsen and Nazroo, 2002). They let go of their culture and old ways to adopt the ways of a different culture. In the essay by Mira, assimilation is seen between Mira and Bharati when they come to America for studies. Mira chooses to move in with an American family and become a citizen who eventually marries an American and has children of her own. Bharati also assimilates in the sense that she completes her studies, but she chooses to claim resident status and marries an Indian man. They both see their ways of belonging to America differently, even though they grew up in the same home under the same culture. Mira's way of assimilating was adopted through not having a choice in whether her children would have an Indian identity or a part of their immigrant heritage. Before coming to America, Mira chose the modernization of the West to cope with her own health issues. This was not done to assimilate into a specific culture in America, but it did create an environment that fostered an American identity for Mira. At this time, she had lost contact with her previous kin and had made only sporadic visits back to India. His mental image of Asia and how he orientalizes it ties into Mira's modernity and the ways in which she perceives the world. It does not directly touch on the essay about America, but we can relate his statements to Mira and Bharati in an immigrant America. His ideas on the concept of ascribed inferiority to Asians are very much in line with the two sisters' ways of being second-class citizens in America, and that denying the ascription is the first step to resisting discrimination.

2.1. Definition of assimilation

The term assimilation is defined as "the process whereby a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture." In this statement, we see two very important words: gradual and customs. To Bharati and Mira, America has always been a land of opportunity where no goal is ultimately unreachable. With this philosophy in mind, their parents arrived to the United States from India in the mid-1960s. They were here in the United States during a time when immigrating to this country was not as common for Indian citizens as it is today. And being one of only a handful of Indian families in the area only compelled their mother and father to become more American. Slowly but surely, they began discarding their Indian customs and the customs we were taught were not exactly the customs of the prevailing culture at that time. They wanted to fit in, they didn't want to be identified as being different, or from another part of the world. They wanted to be American with an American way of life. And they were willing to do whatever it took to get there. This is the making of the classic American Dream. Today, their parents have achieved their dreams and goals and then some. When they are in the public eye, there is no way of telling that they were not born in America. They are so-called "average Americans" and they are proud of it.

2.2. Examples of assimilation in the essay

Mira's example is based on her family. Both her and her sister immigrated to the US on scholarships. Mira's sister responded to America the same way Mira did when she first arrived. She wanted to stay so she could gravitate to the university of her choice. In the meantime, she tried to put as much distance between herself and American culture as possible. Now, she is a permanent immigrant, and still distances herself from American culture. She sees her status as a lesser evil, and says, "You do what you have to do to stay in a country - to a point." Mira's sister is a software engineer and does technical writing on computers, and contributes to the global market. She feels no necessity to assimilate in America because the nature of her job has a global scope, and she feels she can do it anywhere. Mira's essay example loses validity when applied to her sister. Her sister fits the article's requirements for skilled workers to work towards a global job. But, the impact of her sister's assimilation is a moot point; it has yielded nothing. The INS will continue to make changing requirements on immigration, and she will skirt around existing laws as she did in the past to maintain immigrant status. In comparison, Mira's example applies to her own life and the future of educated immigrants like her. Due to September 11, she has switched her field of study from French/Education to Immigration Law. She hopes to effect change future INS legislature, and she sees educated immigrants like herself as the key to change. Taking the words of the article, Mira feels the only way to do this is to climb down the socio-economic ladder and have some limiting interaction with the American culture. Her reasons are twofold. Taking a lower-paying job helps the immigrant to compete with American workers, and the slight on American culture is a form of civil disobedience to change an inequitable system. This is the point in her life where Mira will write this article, as she will soon start law school and the article's higher education requirements will soon recede further from her reach.

2.3. Benefits and challenges of assimilation

Assimilation holds various aspirations for immigrants. The impression of being certainly part of the new land is the first positive goal mentioned by Mukherjee. Her sister wishes to "feel like an American". Achieving the dream might be to feel truly integrated in this society. Mukherjee had always thought that she would one day return to India and did not expect the life she found for herself in America. Her goals for her life have changed and she has found that all her accomplishments "were not preparation for an alien land in the future, but a means of becoming fully American, the thing I had first refused to accept." Mukherjee’s personal example shows that people may find that they have assimilated more than they had expected and that a desire to truly belong might replace earlier goals to simply obtain better living conditions. The most convincing argument for immigrants to strive for full assimilation is the belief in the existence of a fair opportunity structure in the new society. Mukherjee asks "who can deny that for the black and the brown…the price of admission still involves the forfeiture of many aspects of personal identity." She proposes that the possibility of a person of color to live with full social, economic and political rights may be minimal. The essay does not provide a direct answer to the question of whether it is worth changing one’s identity to achieve equal rights, but it is strongly implied that the prospect of doing this is the sole means for minority groups to achieve fuller participation in American society.

3. Second Way to Belong in America: Maintaining Cultural Identity

By maintaining cultural roots, an immigrant can create a comfortable life in the U.S. while still holding on to an identity that is unique to his own ethnic heritage. "Immigrants who are used to two or more cultures – who are 'hyphenated' people – are participating in a great act of personal and social creativity. By shifting between cultures, they add new, unique dimensions to the country that is their new home". Throughout the essay, from the colorful descriptions of the clothing she and Mira wear, to the defining of cultural differences (in the use of a real fur coat, a rarity in India due to India having the largest population of vegetarians in the world or Tina's American hat), cultural maintenance is displayed in various ways. For the Mishra sisters, doing things like shopping for fabric and then designing and obtaining custom-sewn dresses reflects the Indian mindset at its best. It is a tangible result of the hours of arguments about the exact style of the dress that would best blend Eastern and Western influences, and the many compromises made with the parents' generation on what is "proper" for two young Indian women raised on soil foreign to their ancestors. Maintenance is evident in the details of the story; the glimpse of the pink "sparkle hat" in the second paragraph is in fact a true glimpse of All. This hat is treasured and kept after many years not because it is a prize won at a carnival, but because it is evidence of All's first taste of American celebration, an event to her father's dismay, she and a few fellow French-foreign classmates had crashed. Maintenance is the reason Mira carefully clarifies that the animal hair she used to make said hat was indeed synthetic.

3.1. Definition of maintaining cultural identity

Maintaining cultural identity is one of the most crucial factors in the second way to belong in America. In this section, Bharati defines the immigrant experience as a double experience. She and Mira are both immigrants from India settling down in the United States. They are sisters. However, Mira's is a global citizen's experience, she thinks. She has adapted the ways of the new country, its customs, fast food, and slang with the amusement of one who has traveled beyond the frontiers of her own nation, not to return. Her status is that of a visitor, 'a bird of passage', as she lives in the US with her Canadian husband. For the global citizen, there are no more frontiers, only horizons. The first time someone reads this essay, inevitably he or she will place it in the genre of immigrant experience literature simply because two women of Indian descent move to the US. By calling it immigrant literature, it is automatically assumed that this essay is a quest, a search for success and acceptance in the dominant white culture of America. But Bharati and her sister are not trying to do the same thing. They have shared the same experiences in many ways, but there is a subtle difference. Mira has always known where she will ultimately be. She lived for a number of years in Africa, the West Indies, Canada, and the US. But she never let go of her Indian citizenship and is now returned to India, and at each stage of the journey, she has made her plans in the knowledge that she was a sojourner.

3.2. Examples of maintaining cultural identity in the essay

Gran's mother, not knowing the language and using her hands to express pleasure, I belong to who Grandmother was, the woman who never learned to speak English, who silently walked around the house in her pink house-slippers and got things done, or wanted to get things done, in her own way. The woman who was hindered, quite often, by her Master Charge credit card ("Two ways to Belong in America"). This quote by Bharati Mukherjee tells of her realization that she still identifies with her Indian culture and that she immigrated to America for different intentions than her sister and the other Indian immigrants. Her sister Mira has strongly identified with North America as the place for her emotional and intellectual growth, and she positioned herself securely inside the culture, using it as a foundation for the rest of her life. She married a Canadian, worked most of her life in human services and non-profits for disadvantaged members of the dominant culture, felt tremors of guilt when she purchased her own first home, as though she were taking away the job of some mainstream North American heiress. There are no negative connotations that have to do with her sister's immigration to America, and it is evident that she has shaped her life around the country. Both of these situations mirror the point that there are different ways to secure citizenship in a country, and that your personal intentions can affect the course of your activities to benefit yourself in the present and the future.

3.3. Benefits and challenges of maintaining cultural identity

This approach to belonging has benefits in that it allows people to maintain their cultural tradition as a source of external support in handling the challenges of living in a new land. It also provides a clear and immediate identity, the comfort of belonging to a collective unit familiar to you, and a guide in daily decision making. However, maintaining cultural identity by definition rejects assimilation into the host culture, and so makes the process of belonging more complex and leads to issues of marginalisation. This is the case with the Mishra sisters, both highly educated women who have spent much time living in America. Like immigrants of the first kind, they have contributed greatly to American society and so by a first glance approach to belonging should be very much a part of it. But their Indian manner of dress reflects their ongoing connection to their Indian heritage and is a symbol of their refusal to assimilate into American culture. In choosing to dress in such a way, the Mishra sisters maintain their Indian cultural identity and whilst this is quite a comfortable and natural thing for them to do, it has led to an incident where one of the sisters was wrongfully judged to be the foreign-born wife of an American doctor. From this example and the experience of many immigrants of the first and second generation, maintaining one's cultural identity in a country with a different dominant culture often results in social stratification. This occurs because an immigrant culture usually holds its own system of values and norms which will be used as the standard by which to judge and categorise others. People who adhere to the dominant culture will be labelled as the "other" and if they are inherently different in some way (i.e. skin colour, ability to speak the language), then they may be labelled or judged in a negative fashion. Often the Mishra sisters and their mother, who have all maintained a very traditional Indian identity, have been thought of as being in a lower social status. This kind of marginalisation makes the belonging process more difficult and in extreme cases can lead to alienation from both the host and original cultures. Throughout the essay, it is clear that the author has witnessed the effects of this through her personal experience and the experiences of friends and acquaintances. It is also evident that the concept of belonging to a society as a whole has become a distant dream for those who maintain their cultural identity.

4. Conclusion

Immigration has always been a topic for discussion, even more so now due to the recent political events. Both of these events have caused a rise in nationalism and, in turn, a rise in anti-immigrant attitudes. "Two Ways to Belong in America" talks about the conflicting views that the two sisters, Bharati and Mirga, have about the immigrant experience. This is mirrored in American society today. Many immigrants come to America with great expectations for it being the "land of opportunity" where they can achieve their dreams of success and prosperity. Globalization and the advancement of technology have made it much easier for individuals to relocate between countries. In this way, immigrants have such a choice in their future and their connection to their past. This is similar to when the sisters decided to come to America. Bharati chose to come with the intention of furthering her education; however, it was always her intention to return to India. She stated that she always felt connected to India. Mira, on the other hand, went with the intention to start a new life, did not keep up with her Indian heritage, and has since married an American and resides in Detroit. This difference in immigrant purpose can determine immigrant experience, their tie to their home country, their connections with others, and ultimately their sense of identity. Through this essay, we learn that the concept of an immigrant having a sense of belonging or connection to their new country is subjective and can be changed at any time depending on their life situation. In the case of Bharati and Mira, when they came to America, they were peaceful residents; however, now with the new legislation, Mira could very well feel like she doesn't belong if she is denied the right to welfare. The feeling of belonging can also depend on the perception of others. Bharati realized that she never wanted to be perceived as "un-American" and that she was proud of the life she has made in America and the relationships she has formed. This again is subjective and depends on the individual immigrant. In summary, this essay is about the immigrant experience and how, through changes in legislation and nationalist views, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a sense of belonging and connection in a new country. Now more than ever, immigrants have to think about their future in their new country and may even have to abandon their past culture and way of life to secure the benefits of being a citizen. Multiculturalism and the acceptance of others are key factors in the well-being of a peaceful society. "Two Ways to Belong in America" suggests that immigrants provide much to their new country and it is unfair to deny them the opportunity to feel like they belong.

4.1. Summary of the main points

Both sisters have to leave their native countries and start new lives. Mira married and went to Canada, while Bharati came to America to further her education. At first, they both identified with their new country and were proud to be residents. Bharati and Mira were young and carefree and did not give much thought to the lives they left behind. However, twenty years later, the two sisters have had very different experiences and now have different feelings about living abroad. Mira has had a good life in Canada and is a citizen. She believes in the necessity of immigration control and regards many illegal immigrants with scant compassion. Her ideas are mirrored in the policy-making climate of many countries. The events of 9/11 and their aftermath have made immigrants and people of color feel less welcome in many countries, and there is a growing sentiment of "us vs. them." Mira feels she is a representative of India as well but is firmly resolved not to return. Like a roving satellite, she has come too far away. In her mind, she has become more of a citizen of the world than an Indian. She would have difficulty readjusting to life in modern-day India. Mira says, "If I went back now, who would understand me? They'd think I'm so westernized. And I'd miss the things I value about the western lifestyle. Because I am a product of British education, still conducted in English... I cannot disintegrate my identity from a manner of life."

4.2. Personal reflection on the topic

I feel that one of the most interesting aspects of the story is the contrast between the sisters. Perhaps the difference in their attitudes can best be summarized in responses to the constant question, "Do you plan to stay in America?" Mira response would always be a quick, angry, "I am staying here, of course. Where else is there?" She would say it as if it were the most ridiculous question she had ever heard. On the other hand, Bharati would answer more slowly, weighing the pros and cons. "I am not sure," She would say. "America is not so bad... But there are a lot of opportunities for a woman in India. I could always go back." Mira loved India and would not dream of living anywhere else, but she felt that the materials that she drew from were an essential part of her livelihood. She wanted to hold on to India as she knew it, and the best way to do this was to keep her family in the states. I suddenly wondered if all immigrants, to some extent, felt like this. Although they chose to live here at different times, all who felt that America was the land of opportunity, had not also wished to freeze the image they held of India and/or their past lifeways, knowing that they would never return and things would have changed? Were they not trying to cling to a certain way of life without the will to recognize whether holding on was worth their while?

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Two Ways to Belong in America Essay

Being an immigrant is not an easy. People immigrating to another country do not do so because of good situation in their home country. Most people are driven in their immigration decision based on their search for a better life, or at least better than the one in their home countries. In that regard, no matter how bad it was back home, people still feel connection with their land which sometimes result in a two-sided situation, where people are torn in establishing the country they belong to.

A similar situation is found in the biographical article “Two ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee, which describes two different perspectives on how immigrants perceive themselves in America, based on the opinions of the author and her Sister Mira. The article was written as a response to the proposal, which was eventually defeated, to deny legal benefits to resident aliens, and accordingly this paper analyzes these different perspectives based on the difference between the perceptions of the two sisters, stating that belonging to another country implies more than legally living there.

The position of Bharati is mainly that the way she belongs to America is complete, i.e. being a citizen. She does not hold that bond anymore, where she even “welcomed the emotional strain that came from marrying from [her] ethnic community” (Kirszner and Mandell, p. 416). Bharati became a citizen for the United States and the proposed policy did not affect her as she had no intentions to go back to her homeland India, and as her sister think, she erased her “Indianness”.

Mira, on the other hand, represents a legal resident, an immigrant whose only bond is to take “the permanent protection and economic benefits that come with living and working in America.” This status was fine with Mira, as long as she could go wherever she wanted to maintaining her own identity. The propose policy, even though it was defeated, just revealed the truth that the other way of belonging to America does not make her an immigrant, where she is just “expatriate Indian”.

In that regard, the difference in the sisters’ perception comes from that with that policy proposed, there is no really two ways to belong to America. There is only one way in which you become not only a citizen, but also opting for changes from the conditions left behind, which for Bharati were the fluidity, self-invention, and cultural marriage rejection. Other than that, it does not matter that you pay your taxes, obey the rules, or speak English with fluency, you will remain an alien, and as Bharati said, it is a price that they are willing to pay. Accordingly, even if Mira obtained citizenship, she would do so just to have the advantages of a citizen, not because she wants to devote her life to this country.

It can be concluded, that the situation presented in Bharati’s article demonstrates that no matter how hard it was for people in their homeland, they still have that bond. It is only that the policy did not differentiate between citizens and legal residents in treatment that such people thought that it is possible to belong in America in two ways, maintaining the citizenship and enjoying the benefits. As soon as such policy changes, there is only one way to totally belong to America, and that implies more than just living there.

Works Cited

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Patterns for College Writing : A Rhetorical Reader and Guide. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006.

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IvyPanda. (2021, November 2). Two Ways to Belong in America. https://ivypanda.com/essays/two-ways-to-belong-in-america/

"Two Ways to Belong in America." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/two-ways-to-belong-in-america/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Two Ways to Belong in America'. 2 November.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Two Ways to Belong in America." November 2, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/two-ways-to-belong-in-america/.

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Summary of "Two Ways to Belong in America"

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Published: Aug 1, 2024

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The struggle for identity, the impact of immigration policies, the complexity of belonging.

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