In our assignment we were to read several essays in our class text book “Remix”. These essays brought out very different views on tradition and what it is for them and how they handled it. It also brought out my thoughts on tradition and what it means to me.
The three essays that I chose to read and write on are "Wobegon Holiday Dinner", "Let Me Find My Own Husband", and "The Brain in Love".
In "Wobegon Holiday Dinner", the tradition was to go to his Aunt and Uncle's house that was way too small for a large crowd, because they all had to bunch up in areas just to be in the house. Every Thanksgiving they would gather there to have this feast of food, to hear what was told by an Uncle and to see all of the cousins. He only remembered this tradition when his cousin called him to let him know that it has been 25 years since she vomited. It was during one of these gathers that she had done this. He chose to start a different tradition with his wife and step children, which broke his childhood tradition.
In "Let Me Find My Own Husband" she was trying to be her own person and did not want to have her parents pick out her husband by their standards. She felt like she was forced to be nice to the boy that she did not want to conform to her parents instead. It was not until years later that she conformed to her parts wishes, was it because the suitable boy was engaged to 2 different women from India. He finally came to visit and she decided that she wanted to marry him, her parents were excited and told the boy's parents and they agreed to the setup. It was not going to happen because he left for India and stayed there to be married to one of the woman in India. He could not even face Sarita to let her know, he sent her an email.
In "The Brain in Love" "While lust makes our eyes wander, they say, it's the drive for romance that allows us to focus on one particular person, through we often can't explain why." (Carey, 400) Being in love makes you feel giddy and like you cannot think straight. You can only think about that person, when you can see them again. "These were young people who were practically willing to die for their lover. You would expect that the images would reflect many strong emotions all at once." (Carey, 401) When people are in love, it's like their brain is mush. It's not only young people that feel this way, it also happens to older couples.
Tradition is a key to your past and your ancestors. It is okay to change traditions when it needs to be changed. Sometimes your family moves on and they start their own tradition. I feel that no person should be shunned for what they believe in.
This comment was directed to Susan,
This is a really good post and you have some really good example of your own life. Did your parents tradition guild you throughout your life, or did you feel that it might have limited you? Also, you are so correct in the statement you made about "High Schools around the country are allowing unmarried pregnant teens to attend and even making special accommodations for them to continue after the birth of the baby " You can see this in documentaries done on television about teens having babies and attending high school. A long time ago, if a teen ended up pregnant, they were sent away to have the baby and then the baby was given away before they came back into their community. Do you think that they shunned her when she came back into her community?
This comment was directed to Nicholas
Nicholas, I disagree with your statement "since most commonly it is your family forcing you into it." I don't think that families force a tradition on you but what I do think is that they guild and influences you into it. Why do you think that they are forcing traditions on you?
This comment was directed to Brett,
I like your comments on each of these questions however, one thing I do need to ask you is about your comment on question #3 "-Being shunned from your cultures community for not going by its traditions would be stupid. Everyone has their own life and should live it their own way as long as it doesn't harm or hinder someone elses quest for happiness. Now days with how much humans have migrated many cultures and traditions are being blended. With as many different cultures and traditions there are, if you were to shun those who think different than you, then you will probably have a fairly boring and lonely life." My question is this: If you lived in a different country, where their culture is guided by a certain tradition, do you not believe that you would be shunned? Some countries even have maimed people for not following the tradition. Take Sarita in "Let Me Choose My Own Husband", if she lived in India, she would have already had a fixed marriage made for her when she was born, she would have no say in the matter. However, she lives here in the United States, she has the right to chose who she wants to marry. Sometimes traditions is a guiding influence which could be limiting in their ability to do what they want to do.
This comment was directed to Anyes,
You have some very good points. I do like what you said about "Tradition is what keeps the family rituals, and legacy alive…because without tradition, we would not know about our ancestors. There are times in knowing out past, it keeps us alive. I also understand about the storytelling, however, there are times that life gets in the way and that part of a tradition may suffer and go away. Thanks for sharing this with us.
This comment was directed to Kitrina,
I agree with your statement about Sarita. However, she wanted to marry him, and told him that she wanted to marry him, after she heard that he was engaged to 2 women in India, which is what her parents wanted in the first place. It was not until after that she found out that he stayed in India to marry one of the women he went there to meet for the first time. In the statement you stated on shunned about it being a waste of time, it might be a waste of time and stupid, but it still happens to this day. Do you think that everyone is accepted in today society?
This comment was directed to Eugene,
This is a very nice post. I do like the last part of your post where you state, "The fact is that if a person stands back from all the activity going on in our life's and thinks beyond the obvious and what seems to be truth, the bigger picture can be seen and things that matter in life might get changed after evaluation of what is important and what is not." What if that person who came to America from a different country had a very strong belief in his/her custom (tradition)? Are they to change that for their children? Don't get me wrong, because I do believe in moving on with a tradition and truly, in this country we are so diverse that maybe we cannot see their way of thinking. Maybe it is something that is so imbedded in them, they cannot think otherwise.
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