“At odds”, a phrase which means in conflict or at variance. People may feel at odds with different situations or even with each others, consequently they eliminate the feeling in varies ways. However, when there comes to feel at odds with a new culture for these two writers, both of them tried to assimilate into the American culture which they immigrated to and longed for getting involved with, by overcoming the inability of fitting in the society while struggling with their own particular difficulties, emphasizing that sometimes you have to do something against your original heritage in order to achieve the assimilation.
The author, David Jacobson, of the essay “Reflections: Growing-Up Grown” expresses how grateful he was for his non-English …show more content…
He had always tried to be assimilated into the American culture. He got rid of his Russian accent when he was fourteen years old, wanting to be a part of the American culture, visiting Florida, having a preferably native-born girlfriend, and eating McDonald’s, which are three typical symbols of Americanized character; however, his parents were too traditional to get assimilated as he tried to do that they stuck with their habitual behavior of Russian which stopped them from getting Americanized. During the process of adapting and blending himself in the new culture, he desired to be like a real American boy, to speak to girls, to eat McDonald’s which is typical American food. He considered his identity as an real American, and obviously he left his original culture and heritage behind which helped him a lot on searching for Americanism. He went to McDonald’s to get the sixty-nine cents hamburger, trying to make his family fit into the American culture as well. Nevertheless, when his family brought their own traditional Russian food to the McDonald’s instead of buying the food there like what normal Americans would do, he “felt coldness, not the air-conditioned chill of southern Georgia but the coldness of a body understand the ramifications of its own demise, the pointlessness of it all”(Shteyngart 43), and that was also what felt like “at odds” for him. …show more content…
I got refused sometimes by professors, but I backed myself up eventually. When I was in China, my parent and relatives took care of me most of the time, however, since I came to the U.S., I had to do almost everything against what I used to do. Honestly, I felt lonely and helpless in this strange country on my own supporting myself in lots of aspects, however, the craving and motivation of being assimilated into this new culture and getting rid of feeling at odds supports me all the way through my