Learning Life Lessons Through Culture and Religion

Her main concern is who will continue with the Vietnamese culture of praying to the ancestors after she’s gone. Lam’s mother seems to be a very important character in the life of the family especially because no father is ever mentioned in the story. The mother has always been lighting candles and praying to the ancestors for them to protect her family. He narrator in the story feels guilty because he has neglected the Vietnamese way by being deeply immersed in the American culture(Lam, 2013). His roots are still in Vietnamese and he wishes that he had continued with his Vietnamese culture while in US just like his mother. When it comes to the “Salvation” story, Hughes also carries a deep guilt for having not only deceived his aunt but also the church congregation. His aunt has always wanted him to be saved from sin and one day she invites him to the church together with other children so that the pastor can pray to them and get them saved. His aunt tells him that he would know that Jesus has come to him when he sees a light and he believes that literally. Even though he does not see any light he pretends to have and goes to be prayed to receive salvation (Hughes et al., 2002). All the people in the church cheer in delight believing he has received Jesus and salvation as well.

From the two nonfiction short stories, the narrators seem to have lost their sense of faith in that they no longer understand or know to whom they should address when praying. Lam clearly states that he no longer knows to

whom he should address his prayers or what promises he is supposed to make to his ancestors. On the other hand, Hughes describes a situation where he has lost faith in Jesus and yet achieving salvation in Christianity means having faith in Jesus (Aaron &Kuhl, 2011). He wonders why Jesus did not appear to him in form of a light. The two narrators lack someone to clearly explain to them the meaning of the cultural and religious rituals they are supposed to perform.

References

1. Aaron, J. E., &Kuhl, E. (2011). The compact reader: Short essays by method and theme. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
2. Hughes, L., Hubbard, D., McLaren, J., , A. (2002). Autobiography: The big sea. Columbia, Mo. u.a.: Univ. of Missouri Press.
3. Lam, A. (2013, July 11). Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone. Huffington Post.