The short stories in Unit Two all share a common theme that centers around cultural identity. The characters in these stories must both find and accept this identity and understand how it will shape their lives. Kerrie Kvashay-Boyle shares a story of a young girl growing up in a world that does not accept who she chooses to be in the story "Saint Chola." In the short story, "Real Faces," Ken Liu imagines a world where any differences are stripped from individuals in order to create a more even playing field. "Slumming," by Ottessa Moshfegh paints a dark and disturbing picture of life lived in poverty. Finally, Manuel Gonzales tackles societal expectations based on cultural values in a very unique setting in "Escape from the Mall."
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"Saint Chola" by Kerrie Kvashay-BoyleKerrie Kvashay-Boyle's short story, "Saint Chola" tackles the difficulty of being yourself when surrounded by others who desperately want you to change. Mohammadee Sawy is ecstatic with the newfound freedom that junior high grants her. She realizes the possibility of creating an entirely new identity for herself. However, she soon comes to the understanding that no matter what identity she creates, someone will always want her to change. She must learn to choose an identity that makes her happy -- an identity she can live with for the rest of her life.
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However, despite all of the negativity surrounding her attempt to remain true to herself, Shala begins to understand that she alone is responsible for who she chooses to be, and that she is the only one who must live with her decision. While others can both help and hinder the shaping of her identity, ultimately, she must decide for herself the things that she will value and hold important.
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"Real Faces" by Ken Liu
The short story "Real Faces," by Ken Liu addresses both the repercussions of discrimination based on identity and the repercussions of the refusal to acknowledge cultural identity at all. In this story, Liu creates a world in which all marks of a person's identity are removed in order to avoid discrimination. However, as the story goes on, the reader realizes that stripping away all indications of a person's individual identity doesn't eliminate discrimination, it encourages it.
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"Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings."
-Nelson Mandela |
"Slumming" by Ottessa MoshfeghOttessa Moshfegh's short story, "Slumming," paints a vivid picture of cultural identity shaped by poverty. In this story, Moshfegh explores the ways in which being poor shapes and influences identity and addresses the detachment of those not personally affected.
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While a life of poverty and drug addiction is a fact of life inescapable by the majority of the permanent residents of Alna, the narrator chooses to spend her summer vacationing there, capable of returning home to her job and life whenever she wants. She uses Alna to escape from a life unobtainable for most of the residents in the town. She relishes this inability for them to leave. "If they ever left Alna, cleaned up, shipped out, the magic of the place would vanish" she states (Moshfegh 113). Instead of feeling relief or even pride at the idea of the townspeople bettering their lives, she feels only selfish hope that she will be able to continue "slumming it" for as long as she chooses, free to visit the "zombies" in the bus depot restroom "to buy ten dollars' worth of whatever [is] on sale -- up or down" (Moshfegh 111). She romanticizes a life that most people wish to break free from.
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The story begins with the narrator and a handful of people who have locked themselves in a janitor's closet to escape being eaten alive (Gonzales 67). The narrator explains that he had been entering the mall when the screaming began and was turning to leave when Roger "grabbed [him] by the shoulder, a strange glint in his eye, and said 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'" (Gonzales 72). The narrator states "maybe he saw in me what we all hope to see in ourselves -- selflessness, bravery, willingness" (Gonzales 72). The narrator explains what an impact this has on him, stating, "Perhaps it was the tone of his voice, the surety of it, the assumption that I was like him, that everyone was like him, and how little room for argument there was in what he said and how he looked at me. Whatever it was, like an idiot, I followed after him" (Gonzales 72).
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