Although Amy Tan, Frank O’Connor, and Tom Whitecloud Essay Example

are actually two sections of one song. This realization represents her intricate connection with her mother, highlighting the conflict between adhering to her mother's desires and asserting her own uniqueness. Through this revelation, she comprehends that conformity and rebellion are essential elements of her identity.

In Frank O’Connor’s story “First Confession,” the narrator attempts to defy his grandmother's cultural differences by criticizing her traditional habits such as walking without shoes and eating potatoes using her hands (O’Connor).

His sister is the obedient one who flatters and seeks approval from their grandmother, but the narrator does not follow this path. In fact, the narrator rebels against the grandmother's actions, even going as far as contemplating confessing his desire to harm both his grandmother and sister during their first communion ceremony. He rejects the cultural differences imposed on him and discovers that rebellion aligns with his true nature. Despite pouring out his feelings to the priest, he is only given a few "Hail Mary's" in return.

His sister realizes that rebellion might actually be the right path. In the story, her concluding words are, "Lord God, some people have all the luck! Tis no advantage to anybody trying to be good. I might as well be a sinner like you" (O’Connor). Thus, this story serves as a guide for embracing rebellion.

In Tom Whitecloud's "Blue Winds Dancing," the narrator discovers conformity and rebellion. After attending an Indian school, he returns to the reservation feeling uncertain about his place. He expresses his fear and wonders if his people will remember him as he stands in front of the lodge door.

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question my identity - am I Indian or am I white? Although I conform by attending the Indian school, I am worried about being further detached from my own people. Deep down, I desire to conform, but I am aware that even if I do, I will not be accepted. It is distressing to sit in classes and listen to men belittle my people's beliefs, claiming that they worship wooden sticks and that their Gods are false. They assert that the Manitou has forsaken my people and did not provide them with a holy book. I understand that while the white people urge conformity, they will never truly accept me into their society.

Despite his initial reluctance, the narrator ultimately rebels against white culture when he discovers that he is once again accepted into Native American culture. He states, "All eyes are friendly... No one questions my being here" (Whitecloud). Hence, although the narrator did not initially desire rebellion, he ultimately rebels in order to feel the security of acceptance.

Despite the differences in characters' cultures and motivations for conforming or rebelling, all of the stories convey something about these concepts. The narrator in Amy Tan's story eventually defies her mother's strict ways to pursue a more ordinary life, reflecting her dissatisfaction as a first-generation American with her mother's rigidity. On the other hand, in Frank O'Connor's story, the narrator is immediately repulsed by his grandmother's conventional ways and desires rebellion from the beginning.

Both the protagonist in "Tom Whitecloud's" story and the individual described earlier share a common unwillingness to embrace and understand a different culture. Furthermore, when the latter character

rebels against it, he inadvertently influences his sister to do the same. The narrator in "Tom Whitecloud's" narrative, on the other hand, initially has no desire to rebel, but ultimately realizes that it is necessary to preserve his cultural identity. He acknowledges that assimilating into white culture will not lead to acceptance and instead decides to rebel in order to align himself with his own Native American culture. Therefore, rebellion becomes a recurring theme for all the characters in these stories.