Reaction Paper - Nonfiction
ENG 125
September 25, 2012

Reaction Paper - Nonfiction “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone” by Andrew Lam and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes are the two nonfiction stories featured in this reaction paper. Although, the time period in which each story was written is not the same, both of these nonfiction stories share a common theme. The subject of that theme is one where an elder teaches a person younger than themselves, the ways of their ancestors through religion or culture. Misunderstandings bought forth by failed communication is another theme that these two stories have in common. Both themes explain that a profound gap exists between the older and newer generation of people, regardless of the time period each one is in. For instance, in the story, “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone“, the author writes about a Vietnamese teenager who has to learn the ways of his newfound American culture due to the pressure of his current times. While in the story, “Salvation”, the black American was pressured to follow and believe in Christianity in order to display obedience within his community. Both stories portray different cultural perspectives but they both provide a similar theme when it comes to values that are instilled into the younger generation through the methods used by the older generation. In each of these stories, the author provides a main character as the narrator, who also portrays the author himself. Each author is writing about a conflict that he had experienced in his younger years. Although both of these stories are nonfiction or based on a fact or actual experience, both authors still have to include their imagination in order to portray their experiences. This is necessary in order for the reader to develop a sense of feeling of what exactly the authors were going through during these times. A writer must possess a certain skill in order to capture and maintain a readers attention, especially, since a majority of readers have not experienced what the author is writing about. An author who is writing about his own personal experiences is challenged to create a picture for the reader that will vividly portray feelings and the environment that had surrounded the author during that time. For the reader, he or she must use his or hers imagination to recreate the scenes the author is trying to display. The reader must try to put themselves in the authors shoes in order to try and make a personal connection with the story. Although both stories shared similar themes, they were also very different. In “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone” by Andrew Lam, the author provides a closure on the issue of passing on cultural heritage and beliefs. In the story, “Salvation” by Langston Hughes, this was not the case. In “Salvation”, the author begins the narration about a promise, while in “Who Will Light the Incense When Mother’s Gone”, the story begins with conflict. Another difference between the two stories was how each ended. The story by Andrew Lam concluded with the reader portraying that there was a mutual understanding of the two sides involved, while in the story by Langston Hughes the reader is left with a conclusion of remorse from what has happened to the child’s faith and what he will become of him in the future. After reading each of these stories, it is of this readers belief that the reason a new generation does not practice the ways of the generation before them or makes a choice to forget those ways altogether is because of the current environment they have been introduced to or have already grown up in. For instance in the story by Andrew Lam, Vietnamese mothers who grew up in their native country of Vietnam were only accustomed and exposed to that specific culture. On the other hand in the case of the younger Vietnamese man or woman who has migrated to America, he or she is exposed not only the Vietnamese culture but to the American culture as well. He or she has to perform a balancing act in order to maintain peace with his or hers elders and his or hers peers. Young immigrant children face pressures and struggle to fit in everyday just like an immigrant mother or father struggles to still practice the culture of wherever he or she came from. For instance, when a young male of female is introduced to a new school, he or she has to make new friends, learn an entirely different teaching system, and also learn a multi-cultural approach when it comes to dealing with everyday occurrences. This new environment is enough pressure by itself for any boy or girl associated with the younger generation. Today, the younger generation develop habits that are unknown to the older generation due to the constant exposure to the ever expanding world of technology. Technology is getting faster and faster and the more and more exposure to entities such as: television, the internet, and music, makes a young immigrant become more distant rather than remember the once warm and close knit family that her or she grew up knowing. This distance produces an emptiness in the once strong and stable family. This is particularly true in the story by Andrew Lam when he writes about the young Vietnamese boy no longer speaking Vietnamese in the house and refraining from chanting prayers that are accustomed to his family‘s spiritual beliefs. It is this writer’s belief that no one person wants to grow up being an outcast or not being able to fit in with a particular group. These are the many reasons why the young generation has difficulty accepting and believing in the concepts of the language, the culture, and the religion of the generations that have come before he or she.

References
Barnet, S., Cain, W.E, & Burto, W. (2011). Literature for composition: Essays, stories, poems, and plays (9th ed.). New York, NY: Longman.