The Conflicts Between Mother and Daughter in “Two Kinds”

Zheng Wang ENC 1102 RXB3 Final draft The Conflicts between Mother and Daughter in â€Å"Two Kinds† In the story â€Å"Two Kinds†, author Amy Tan, who is a Chinese-American, describes the conflicts in the relationship of a mother and daughter living in California. The protagonist in this story Jing-mei Woo’s mother is born and raised in China, and immigrates to the United States to escape from the Chinese Civil War. For many years she maintained complete Chinese traditional values, and has been abided by it deliberately. This kind of traditional Chinese culture has also affected her daughter profoundly. However, Jing-mei is born and raised in the United States. Despite she has a Chinese mother; she is unfamiliar and uncomfortable with Chinese†¦show more content†¦This is also one of the characteristics of Chinese culture, unfortunately Jing-mei cannot understand it, because she is born and raised under a completely different cultural background. Another aspect of cultural conflict is that humility and obedient are considered as the traditional virtues of the Chinese culture. Children should unconditionally obey their parents because parents have the ability and willingness to teach and control their children. For example, according to Jing-mei’s mother, Jing-mei has to practice piano assiduously. She would not be punished if she devotes all her effort to playing piano. We can clearly see this point in her mother’s word in the quarrel, â€Å"Only two kinds of daughters, those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter† (461). But Jing-mei cannot understand this, because she is not familiar to Chinese culture. As a consequence of Jing-mei cannot understand her mother, she does not cooperate and has rebellious attitude against her mother. In the story, Jing-mei decided, â€Å"I didn’t have to do what my mother said anymor e. I wasn’t her slave. This wasn’t China. I had listened to her before and look what happened. She was the stupid one† (460). As described above, Jing-mei cannot understand the humility and obedient of Chinese culture, even they are recognized as theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Two Kinds By Amy Tan1190 Words   |  5 PagesA Mother and Her Daughter In Amy Tan’s â€Å"Two Kinds† (1989), a section of her novel â€Å"The Joy Luck Club†, Tan depicts the mother-daughter relationship between June and her mother, Ms. Woo. Ms. Woo is determined to turn June into a child prodigy, forcing her to try different activities to see if she would be a prodigy in that field. Ms. Woo then forces June to take piano lessons, and to her content June continues to play the piano with lessons from Mr. Chong. When it comes time for June to perform inRead MoreMedia: The Second God Essay946 Words   |  4 Pagespowerful social influence that can be good and bad. In the stories Two kinds and Boards both authors reflect the extent to which the power of media has influenced our perspective as cultures and individuals. In the story Two kinds Amy Tan portrays the influence of media on a mother who focuses on the American culture to find success for her daughter. In Boarders Thomas King portrays this influence of media on a daughter whose mother fights for her identity and embraces her culture. Nevertheless, bothRead MoreThe Two Kinds By Amy Tan1272 Words   |  6 Pagesknown as second generation immigrants, experience a cultural conflict between that of their parents and that of mainstream U.S. society† (Wikipedia 1). Amy Tan the author of â€Å"Two Kinds†, and the young character in the story both are a second generation immigrants, who have struggled in their life with parents, about the culture they assimilating and their real culture. In the â€Å"Two Kinds† story the author illustrates the struggle between her American cultural identity, and her mother’s Chinese cultureRead MoreEssay on Two Languages and Two Cultures 1028 Words   |  5 Pages Two Languages and Two Cultures United States was built on immigrants and some of the immigrants were pushed from their homeland because of some reasons while other reasons such as America dream pulled them to the United States. Most of these immigrants came from China in 1949, when the communist party took over. These immigrants came with their cultures and languages which are significant in everyones lives because they play a major role in the development of individual’s characteristics.Read MoreAmy Tan Talks About The Clash Between Traditional And Contemporary Values1719 Words   |  7 PagesIn the short story â€Å"Two Kinds,† Amy Tan talks about the clash between traditional and contemporary values. The Chinese culture wants everything to be a certain way, but Tan grow up in around American culture and she was more likely to have her own thoughts rather than be an obedient daughter. This essay illustrates the procedure of character development of the second-generation Chinese immigrant daughte rs who experience differences between Chinese culture and American culture, such as language, cultureRead MoreBeing A First Generation American Child1038 Words   |  5 Pagesfaced with a conflict between living up to standards, or living a double standard. Amy Tan, born February 19, 1952, was an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships and the Chinese-American experience. As a child Amy Tan believed her life was duller than most. She read to escape. Her parents wanted her to be a doctor or a concert pianist, however, she secretly dreamed of becoming an artist. She began writing fiction when she was thirty-three. The story â€Å"Two kinds† introducesRead More A Mothers Dream for her Daughter in Amy Tans Two Kinds Essay957 Words   |  4 PagesA Mothers Dream for her Daughter in Amy Tans Two Kinds Amy Tans short story, Two Kinds begins with a brief introduction to one mothers interpretation of the American dream. The Chinese mother who lost her family in her native homeland now hopes to recapture part of her loss through her daughter. Those of us who are parents want what is best for our children. We strive to make our childrens futures better. In some cases, when our own dreams have either been destroyed or not realized, weRead MoreTwo Kinds822 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 103-276 January 17, 2011-01-17 Two Kinds Amy Tan In the short story â€Å"Two Kinds†, Amy Tan uses the narrator’s point of view to share a mothers attempt to control her daughters dreams and ambitions. Tan`s short story is an example of how differing personalities cause struggles between a parent and child. Children often fall victim to a parent trying too hard or expectations being too high, and in the case of Two Kinds, we see Jing Mei’s mother trying to live her life through that ofRead MoreTwo Kinds Character Analysis Essay935 Words   |  4 Pages A mother’s belief in the American dream causes her to incessantly encourage her daughter to be an Americanized prodigy in Amy Tan’s Two Kinds. An immigrant from China, where she lost everyone and everything in her life, Jing-mei’s mother sets about training her daughter to achieve the best quality of life America can offer. At first excited, Jing-mei, tries everything her mother sets before her. The conflict arises when Jing-mei begins to feel the effects of her failed attempts and her mother’sRead MoreMother-Daughter Conflict Illustrated in The Joy Luck Club Essay649 Words   |  3 Pagesin writing about mother-daughter relationships. There are four pairs of mothers and daughters whose stories are told in The Joy Luck Club. All of the mothers were born in China and came to America because of some kind of problem, but their daughters were born in the United States. Due to the fact that the daughters were born in the United States, they are extremely Americanized. Consequently, they do not value the Chinese heritage which their mothers valued dearly. As the daughters are growing up,

Sexual Values Of 783 Undergraduates Essay - 1533 Words

What motivates people to make the choices that they do make every day? Could it be religion, fear of the unknown, sickness, or do other people around them have the power to influence their decisions? This paper is about the reason why young people participate in an activity that most people in the world do, or will one day in their future possibly do. It’s the activity that has the power to bring new bundles of joy into our world every single day, Sex. Some would argue and say the action of sex is easy but the thought that goes behind the choice of doing this activity is complicated. My paper will evaluate the article written by Emily Richey, David Knox, and Marty Zusman titled Sexual Values of 783 Undergraduates. Sexual values to me are important things to consider before having sex or before choosing a sexual partner. A study was conducted at a university,100 questions were asked to 783 freshmen’s and sophomores, and that study lead to the development of the article w hich I am evaluating. My goal is to evaluate the article to the best of my knowledge and understanding by dispensing my opinion and including information I have gained in my ethics class over this semester. To begin with the authors of the article defined sexual values as the moral guidelines individuals use to make decisions regarding their sexual behavior (Richey et al .661). I gave my opinion of what sexual values are to me in the first paragraph. My view and the authors view are to some extent different;Show MoreRelatedSample Thesis Chapter 1 2 Only About Stress of College Students2190 Words   |  9 Pagessense of overwhelmed, feelings of anxiety, overall irritability,   insecurity, nervousness, social withdrawal, loss of appetite,  depression, panic attacks, exhaustion, high or low blood pressure, skin eruptions or rashes, insomnia, lack of sexual desire (sexual dysfunction), migraine, gastrointestinal difficulties (constipation or diarrhea), and for women, menstrual symptoms. It may also cause more serious conditions such as heart problems. Also, experimental research which has been performed on animalsRead MoreHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 Pa gesproblems and solutions. To address this need, we’ve created HBR Answers, a Web tool you can use to ï ¬ nd answers to the questions you are asking – or should be asking – about your biggest business challenges. For instance, â€Å"How can my company maximize the value of its brand(s)?† The editors of HBR have posted questions on several topics and selected articles that can help you ï ¬ nd the answers you need. Please let us know if there are any additional questions or topics that you would like to see. 3. READERS’Read More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesthe assessment facilitator for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Community Schools. In his spare time he enjoys reading and hiking. He and his wife have a daughter, Anna, who is a graduate student in Civil Engineering at Cal Tech. JAY DEVORE earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from the University of California at Berkeley, spent a year at the University of Shefï ¬ eld in England, and ï ¬ nished his Ph.D. in statistics at Stanford University. He previously taught at the University of Florida andRead MoreMedicare Policy Analysis447966 Words   |  1792 PagesCoverage Expenses Subtitle C—Disclosures To Carry Out Health Insurance Exchange Subsidies Subtitle D—Other Revenue Provisions rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with BILLS DIVISION B—MEDICARE AND MEDICAID IMPROVEMENTS TITLE I—IMPROVING HEALTH CARE VALUE Subtitle A—Provisions related to Medicare part A Subtitle B—Provisions Related to Part B Subtitle C—Provisions Related to Medicare Parts A and B Subtitle D—Medicare Advantage Reforms Subtitle E—Improvements to Medicare Part D Subtitle F—Medicare

Homeless Essays - 573 Words

Homeless Hi, my name is Alexia. I am homeless and have been for quite a while now. Its hard to understand why, and it takes a lot to explain, but Im pretty sure I have no other plans today, unless you do? If so I wont keep you. You dont have any plans, thats good then. Wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It all started when I was 14, my friends turned their backs on me, never invited me out with them. I felt like I didnt belong anywhere so I got upset and depressed. First of all I just started smoking, I felt it took the stress away so I continued, I saw no harm. But then I started to become more adventurous, I got into alcohol, every week I would be getting drunk, but then the worst of it came. Whenever I sobered†¦show more content†¦She was always doing the right thing for us. I was feeling really faint and I remember my eyes getting heavy, I could hear shouting, my mums voice I think it was my mums, it wasnt to clear, but I could tell she was upset, I didnt know what about, I just wanted to hold her, tell her it was ok, but I couldnt see her. I couldnt move, I remember this so clearly. It just plays back through my mind all the time, the fear in her voice, I knew that fear well, I just wish I could tell her to push it to the back of her mind and that it would be ok. But I couldnt! I woke up to a beeping sound, constant beeping, where was I? You can probably guess how I feel, I was thinking it was my alarm clock, so I tried to reach for it, but I couldnt touch anything, I opened my eyes, and there was a man in a white coat, Hello Alexia, we have been waiting for you for quite a while now. How are you feeling? Whoo Who are you? Sorry, I forgot, im Dr Leon Uris, I have been treating you for the past couple of days. Do you remember what happened? Yes, is my mum ok Yes, I will just go and update her, she will probably be here soon I looked at my wrist, it was just a scab now, I had a needle in me though, and I think I lost a lot of blood. They kept me inShow MoreRelatedHomeless People : The Homeless1265 Words   |  6 PagesHomeless in Baltimore City is a serious issue that must be resolve. There are different types of homeless people: Chronic, transitional and episodic homeless people. However, there are several or multiples reasons for which people become homeless. It could be due to lack of financial incentives or economic reason, immigrants people (students or foreign), a choice of an individual or poverty, housing needs of the lack of low-income housing and other issues such as unemployment, underemployment, domesticRead MoreHomeless People And The Homeless Essay1970 Words   |  8 PagesHomelessness there were about 600,000 homeless people in America in January of 2015. This paper will hopefully spread insight on homelessness as a whole. There are many misconceptions about homeless people and many facts that people do not realize about homeless people. These facts should be brought to attention in order to help increase the knowledge of what normal everyday individuals can do to help. Every day we are surrounded by someone who is homeless and we don’t even know it. People tendRead MoreHomeless Shelters : Homeless Shelter Essay2067 Words   |  9 Pagesshelters that tend to the homeless. With the San Gabriel Valley services being so distant and clustered, it was difficult to assess the overall feel of the homeless services. That is, it was difficult to find any homeless shelters even with the use of a handheld GPS and map, signifying that access to the homeless services is not as simple as it sounds. On the other hand, it was not at all difficult to find other services that seemed, to be very helpful for the homeless in general. A screenshot ofRead MoreHomeless Child Education : Homeless Children1678 Words   |  7 PagesHomeless Children Education Several factors severely compromise the ability of homeless children to succeed in school, as I discovered in interviews with 277 homeless families in New York City in 1988. Barriers to the success of these children include health problems, hunger, transportation obstacles, and difficulty obtaining school clothes and suppliesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ all of which are linked to low attendance rates (Rafferty and Rollins 1989). Other factors are associated with the nature of the emergency shelterRead MoreHomeless People s View On The Homeless869 Words   |  4 Pages Here in America there is a high percentage of homeless people. People often label homeless people as lazy, not willing to work, or they believe they are just looking for hand out. But that is just other people s views on the homeless. My point of view is that maybe they had a rough start in life, or something happened to them or maybe they didn’t have a mother or father figure in their lives to tell them right from wrong. Other might of grown up in broken homes which might of caused them to beRead MoreThe Homelessness Of The Homeless1745 Words   |  7 Pagesdiscussed topics around the world is homelessness. Each and every day more and more people become homeless. People around the world have tried numerous times to resolve this dilemma. This situation is growing and it s starting to spiral out of control. One solution that is getting popular the more we let this situation grow is that criminalizing the homeless is ok. People cannot criminalize the homeless. Homeless people should not be criminalized because they have nowhere to go, they have it hard enoughRead MoreThe Stigma Of The Homeless1556 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the Great Depression, the homeless were almost glamorized as vagabonds who rode the rails with their belongings neatly tied up in a bandana over their shoulder. Today, the homeless can be anyone: children or women escaping an abusive relationship or those who just cannot afford to pay for housing. While some homeless people maintain employment of some sort, long term homelessness is usually a function of the inverse; either severely under-employed or no income stream at all with which toRead MoreHomeless Volunteer1842 Words   |  8 PagesHomeless Volunteer Tera Penrod Purpose: To share my experience of being homeless and how it has affected me. Audience: Readers interested in being enlightened about the homeless at a personal level. â€Å"Better is a poor man whose walk is blameless than a rich man whose ways are perverse.†- PROVERBS 28:6. I learned the truth in this verse while living with relatives in Colorado Springs, Colorado and the time I became homeless. What comes to mind when thinking about homeless people? I rememberRead MoreThe Media Of The Homeless2516 Words   |  11 Pagespeople have become socially and morally numb to the issue. As homelessness worsens, the homeless are being seen less and less as humans and more as a nuisance such as pests and wildlife, or even just a statistic. Being at the bottom of the social class structure is rough, to put it lightly. There is nothing glamorous about living at the streets; in fact, there are very few positive points, if any, to being homeless but that doesn t mean they are that much different from other classes. At the coreRead MoreHomeless And Non Homeless Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual990 Words   |  4 Pagesexamined two groups, homeless and non-homeless Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) youths (Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, 2012). There were a total of 156 participants between the ages of 14 and 21 years with a mean age of 18.3 years. Participants were recruited from community based organizations, which focused on youths and two college organizations of LGB students. Researchers wanted to explore potential risk factors associated with the reason some LGB youths become homeless, while others do not.

The Question of Free Will Descartes, Hume, and Nietzsche...

The power of acting without necessity and acting on one’s own discretions, free will still enamors debates today, as it did in the past with philosophers Nietzsche, Descartes, and Hume. There are two strong opposing views on the topic, one being determinism and the other â€Å"free will†. Determinism, or the belief a person lacks free will and all events including human actions are determined by forces outside the will of an individual contrasts the entire premise of free will. Rene Descartes formulates his philosophical work through deductive reasoning and follows his work with his system of reasoning. David Hume analyzes philosophical questions with inductive reasoning and skeptism with a strong systematic order. Neither a systematic†¦show more content†¦The power of knowing and the power of choosing combined lead one to create faults, nothing more and nothing fewer. A person, God’s creation, is made to decide and follow certain paths, and errors will be made due to the finite abilities of a person. It is a mistake to not take advantage of this freedom of the will, for it is the infinite God’s plan. Descartes’ philosophy revolves around certainty and entrustment of God, so it comes at no surprise the backbone of free will is based on belief of God. Descartes pronounces, â€Å"†¦it is an imperfection in me that I do not use my freedom well† (61-62, Meditations). If free will, or freedom as he states, is misused, that indicates only an imperfection in him. Full responsibility for mishaps in judgments and decisions are only caused by an individual’s finite ability given from an infinite being. Further Descartes says, â€Å"†¦willing is merely a matter of being, able to do or not do the same thing† (57-58, Meditations). Descartes entrusts being alive accompanies obtaining a will. Life accompanies the choice to make certain choices or rather obstain from making choices. This full throttled independence backed in God’s name shines positively in those who believe. The entrustment of the will, that everyone contains a hope of choice and deliverance of ideals if fought for accordingly. Underlining the full fleshed will is a senseShow MoreRelatedPhilosophy C100 Quiz 121572 Words   |  7 PagesPREVIEW: PHIL C100 Quiz 1 —   Ã‚  P A G E   Ã‚  1  Ã‚   — 1.    The word philosophy comes from the Greek philein (to love) and sophia (knowledge or wisdom).    X | True |    | False | 2.    Which of the following is a philosophical question:    | Is there a God? |    | Does the end justify the means? |    | What form of government is best? |    | What is Time? |   X | All of the above. | 3.   An argument is a reason for accepting a position.    X | True |    | False | 4.    The area of philosophyRead MoreBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagesand whether knowledge is possible. Among its central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification. †¢ Ethics, or moral philosophy, is concerned with questions of how persons ought to act or if such questions are answerable. The main branches of ethics are meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Meta-ethics concerns the nature of ethical thought, comparison of various ethical systems, whether there are absolute ethicalRead MoreKants Theory of Enlightenment5012 Words   |  21 PagesNotes on Kant’s What is Enlightenment? Posted on  March 16, 2012 ‘Enlightenment is the human being’s emergence from his self-incurred minority.  Kant means emergence from a form of slavery, in which one is not free to think for oneself, but instead is told what to think. In a sense, I think it relates to religious and state imposed rules. This is reinforced when Kant suggests to ‘have the courage to make use of your own understanding’,  making that the motto of the Enlightenment. He, perhaps ironicallyRead MoreConcept of Beauty According to the Western Philosophers4706 Words   |  19 Pagespotent one; and so is the idea that art portrays the universal, not a thing that has been, but a kind of thing that might be. ~RENE DESCARTES~ (1596-1650) He described the beauty and perfection of god’s works and the divine light. As late as the eighteenth century, beauty retained its relation to divinity and perfection, expressed in art. Even so, with Descartes and his time a transformation of the world began that included alterations in the practice and understanding of art and in the thoughtRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational Practices? 30 Point/Counterpoint Lost in Translation? 31 Questions for Review 32 Experiential Exercise Workforce Diversity 32 Ethical Dilemma Jekyll and Hyde 33 Case Incident 1 â€Å"Lessons for ‘Undercover’ Bosses† 34 Case Incident 2 Era of the Disposable Worker? 35 vii viii CONTENTS 2 2 The Individual

The Impacts of Fast Food free essay sample

The Impacts of Fast Food Fast food can be a cheap, quick meal, but most people do not realize what they are actually getting into. While some may say that the fast food industry has helped the world because it allows people with low incomes or not a lot of time on their hands to be able to get a fast meal, there are plenty of side effects to go along with it. The fast food industry has been developing quickly and has successfully roped in the human race. These restaurants are widely accepted because of their inexpensive food that is extremely addicting. Most people fail to see the other part of the story. In today’s society, fast food seems to be at the top of everyone’s meal list, but at the bottom of his or her concerns. Fast food impacts the economic, agricultural, and health fields. Some people believe that the fast food industry has no bad affects. Even though there are some positive points of it, people should start to also take notice of the negative points. The fast food industry provides jobs for lots of people throughout the world. There are more than 3. 5 million Americans who have been employed with a job in the fast food business (Peterson). This job appeals to lots of people because the employees do not have to be skilled to flip a burger or work a cash register. However, having a job at a fast food restaurant is not always a good thing. With low salaries, the economy cannot improve (Peterson). When there are so many people who have low salaries, nobody is going to be able to afford anything. Susan Peterson, a Ph. D in text theory from the University of Texas, says, â€Å"People work to make money, but what if they are not making enough to get by without help from the government? Susan has a very valid point. If people are not making enough money in their fast food job, how are they going to buy material needs for them or their family? It is great that they have a job and are working to earn some money, but that is not going to solve everything. Robby Kukler, a partner at Atlanta-based 5th-group-restaurants, says, â€Å"We live in a very cost-sensitive industry† (Bowman). Human dependency has played a large role in fast food. When there are so many people who consume fast food regularly, by logic, the industry is going to grow. A survey taken in the beginning of 2013 states that there are about 184, 200 fast food restaurants in America (Burks). Fast food restaurants are meant to be convenient, but when there are so many, too many people eat it too often. In the past forty years, the whole fast food industry has grown from a $6 billion revenue to a $170 billion revenue (Fast Food). Even though that seems like a large amount of time for a small growth, it is not. That is more than $4 billion per year. In 1968, there were only one thousand McDonalds in the United States. Now, there are more than thirty thousand (Cohen). With the rapid growth rate of fast food restaurants, it is just going to get easier and easier for humans to depend on fast food. While fast food affects the economy very heavily, it also impacts thousands of farms all around the country and even the world. Most people do not even know what they are eating when they are consuming fast food. In many places, there are vast amounts of corn and soybeans that become animal feed or ingredients in processed foods (Boyd). As a matter of fact, about 20 percent of the world’s petroleum production goes into the production and transportation of our food (Boyd). Because of this, the food we eat does not come from around the state anymore, but from all around the country or even the world. What people now call â€Å"fresh foods† can come from anywhere. It can be shipped as close as right around the corner, but as far as 1,500 miles away (Garrison). Why would a person want to eat something in which he or she does not know the ingredients or process involved in making it? A typical hamburger contains meat from dozens or even hundreds of different cattle from all around the world (Schlosser). The meat in hamburgers and even chicken nuggets used to come from a few or ever just one cattle (Schlosser). Therefore, if only one cattle is infected with a disease or sickness, there is a good chance that the person who consumes this meat will encounter some of the disease (Schlosser). People should really start to watch what is in the food that they are eating. Most people do not know that in a typical fast food strawberry milkshake, there is a substance used to clean oil rigs (Cohen). This is just one example of people not knowing what is in their food or drink before they consume it. Farms used to be very diverse, growing corn, oats, wheat, hay, fruits, and vegetables (Boyd). To feed a population as large as this one, farming is needed. In America, McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef, pork, and also potatoes (Cohen). McDonald’s is also the second largest purchaser of chicken in the United States (Cohen). Without agriculture, the human race would go nowhere in their everyday lives. It is only because of agricultural surpluses that we, as humans, were able to develop science, literature, and all of the other things we like so much (Cohen). We also do not have to fight for survival because farming and agriculture makes it so easy to put dinner on the table and feed people so easily (Cohen). Without agriculture we would not have such an advanced world today.

Character Analysis from a Raisin in the Sun free essay sample

Beneatha’s Struggles Eleanor Roosevelt once said, â€Å"A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water. † As carbon matter endures unimaginable heat and pressure to transform into a beautiful diamond, so also do individuals experience incredible situations in life, which lead to opportunities for personal development. These times of struggle do not always produce the most gracious or picturesque representations of a person, but they are often necessary for that person to experience internal growth. Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s story of A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha’s character is forced to deal with conflict from many different sources, thus taking her through a process of self-actualization. Externally, upon introduction to her character, Beneatha struggles against a society that does not readily accept her as an African-American woman. Set in Chicago’s Southside in a time before the Civil Rights Movement had really gained momentum, A Raisin in the Sun places Beneatha in a tumultuous environment. We will write a custom essay sample on Character Analysis from a Raisin in the Sun or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Simply by virtue of her birth, this young African-American woman finds herself catapulted into a time of social conflict and unrest due to the highly charged civil rights issues coming to surface. Additionally, in this time, if they insisted on working, women were expected to become domestics, secretaries, nurses, or teachers: all roles which ultimately submitted to male authority. To add fuel to the fire of her individual situation, Beneatha finds inspiration from a personal experience and decides to become a doctor, which at that time was rare, if not dissident, to the current society as a woman of her race.In a moment with her friend Asagai, Beneatha shares the memory of a neighborhood child being injured and her internal response to his treatment: â€Å"That was what one person could do for another, fix him up – sew up the problem, make him all right again. That was the most marvelous thing in the world†¦I wanted to do that† (p. 1241). Beneatha saw that the medical treatment made an active impact on the boy’s life. She herself wanted to participate in the active positive change in people’s lives. Beneatha’s professional aspiration proves an admirable dream but surely sentences her to an uphill battle throughout her future.Going deeper, more personal to Beneatha is the sibling rivalry she experiences with her older brother, Walter. Jeremy Boyle, a family-based website writer, expounds on the dynamics of a sibling rivalry: As siblings grow into mature adults, they hope and expect rivalries will recede into the past. For most siblings this is the case, but for some rivalry continues to burn deep. In some cases, new rivalries pop up. When sibling rivalry persists into adulthood, the conflict and self-doubts can be devastating. Boyle touches on the aspect that a child easily forgives a broken toy or a smaller piece of dessert.However, as the child matures into adulthood, a lifetime of favoritism or lack of respect ultimately wears down the bonds shared by siblings. The most tangible point of conflict between Walter and Beneatha involves Walter’s resentment towards Beneatha. Walter resented Beneatha because the family made financial sacrifices so that Beneatha would have the money necessary to pursue higher education. Meanwhile, Walter felt stuck in his job, holding a position as a chauffeur, and furthermore felt stifled by his family who responded skeptically to his own business ideas and desires.Instead of taking personal responsibility for his own decisions and results thereof, Walter blames the family’s lack of resources on the expense of Beneatha’s education. Furthermore, while he himself professes a desire to rise above the status quo of his community, he begrudges Beneatha for her assertive actions to realize her own dreams even to the point of trying to discourage her success. Unable to see beyond his own insecurity and afraid that he himself will not realize his own dreams, he exclaims, â€Å"Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people – then go be a nurse like other women – or just get married and be quiet† (p. 1204). The climax to this conflict surfaces when Walter, due to a bad busine ss agreement, looses the money allocated for Beneatha’s medical education. This inevitably forces Beneatha to question and reassess decisions she previously made about her life. The money previously available for her education disappeared; this meant that in order to continue with her plans she would need to work even harder to accomplish her goals. Does she really want to become a doctor? Can she really afford it?What if she failed to succeed? This financial conflict proved to not only fire the rivalry she and her brother shared, but it also triggered the conflict within her own being. Most intimate to Beneatha rages the internal battle between living a more socially acceptable life versus a more personally gratifying life. Beneatha’s two suitors, George and Asagai, act as the personification of this division. On one hand George represents an easier life in her current society. Because of his family connections, established financial security, and assimilation into the American culture, a future with George promises comfort and approval.The hopes of assimilation provided an amount of relief from the conflicts she faced; the more cultural and social acceptance she gained, the less struggle she potentially faced. Transversely, Asagai, a Nigerian native, woos her internal hunger for a life more true to her African heritage. Asagai seems to have the ability to see beyond the surface of her demeanor. He speaks to the core of her being, challenging her motives, her words, and her actions all the while encouraging her to pursue the desires of her heart even to the point of suggesting a new life with him in Nigeria.He promises her, â€Å"I will show you our mountains and our stars; and give you cool drinks from gourds and teach you the old songs and the ways of our people† (p. 1243). Using poetic imagery, Asagai allures Beneatha’s feminine desire for beauty as well as the pull she felt to bond more closely with the truths of her ancestry. The dichotomy of these two polar opposites does not afford Beneatha neutrality; she knows her choice of actions will ultimately profess her position. Ultimately, much like life, though an optimistic tone emerges in the end of the story, the future still remains uncertain.The audience does not see the final resolution to Beneatha’s conflicts. However, the audience does see that Beneatha’s courage to face these specific confrontations brings her closer to being at peace with the antagonists in her. Again, Eleanor Roosevelt’s words become relevant when she said, â€Å"Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world. † Eleanor Roosevelt recognized the phenomenon that unless a person works to resolve her internal conflict, she will always face external factors that consistently trigger the emotional voltage behind the situation.