Of the pieces we had to read over the last couple of weeks, the two that I felt I most related two were not the ones I was expecting to like. I really enjoyed the two essays, “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” and “At an Artists Colony”. I really did not think I would enjoy these two very much, but surprisingly enough, they took me back to my childhood and I really feel like I understand exactly what the writers are trying to get to in both of these works.
Firstly, in “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?”, I feel like I totally understand where the author is coming from. In my eyes, the saying never really made sense to me in the first place. If someone eats a bunch of sweets, that doesn’t make them sweet, it makes them overweight and unhealthy. And just because someone eats meat, doesn’t necessarily make them an animal. The author is saying that is often feeling uncomfortable by being different from others in what she eats. At first she seems to what to be like her friends, but then it seems like she is grateful for the food her mom has provided her with and the sacrifices her mother made to make her more Americanized foods.
I am somewhat able to see where the author is coming from wanting to eat what everyone else is eating to fit in. When I was a little kid, and still now, I ate some of the weirdest things because my parents ate them or prepared them for me. I never saw it as “odd” or “weird” to eat something until others around me were eating it, or saying it looks gross. The author of this story goes through the same thing during her elementary school years and at first really wishes to have a hotdog to fit in.
Only she got sick from eating “regular” food it seemed like it somewhat lots its appeal. I especially enjoyed when she was in boarding school in England and couldn’t figure out what was on her plate. In the end, she stuck with the food she had grow up with and grown accustomed to. She even wanted to try and learn how to prepare some of the foods and dishes her mother served for her. I think the ending of this story really does fit well because it shows that even though at first the author wanted to be different, in the end, she was exactly like her mother. I think this just shows the impact parents have on their children, and that children often don’t realize this impact until make later when their parents are of old age or dead. This ending was truly fitting.
The next work I really enjoyed was “At An Artists Colony”. Although I related in a different way to this one, I really do understand exactly the point the author is trying to make and fully believe it to be true. The author in the story often hears people making racist remarks about black people, when she herself is actually black. She doesn’t look black, so people don’t think anything about talking about her ethnic group right in front of her. When the author tells people, “Yeah, I’m black”, they usually don’t seem to know what to say so they tell her she’s not really black.
This story also takes me back to my childhood in something my mom always used to tell me. Although I never recall making racist remarks such as the ones in this story, I have a very hard time keeping my mouth shout about other gossip. My mom and I would be in some public place and I would tell her “so and so did this can you believe it?” or something along those lines. My mom acted like the author of this story by responding with “ You shouldn’t talk about people because you never know who’s neighbor or aunt is sitting right next to you”. This really makes sense and this story backs up this point. People need to take time and think about what they are about to say and wonder if I would be appropriate if that person, or someone in that person’s family should want to hear what you are saying.
Although this story’s focus is mainly on racism and people not considering that people that may not look like the stereotypical fitting for that race, it could still be part of their background. This story really does have a powerful message that goes well beyond that of racism and racist remarks.