"It is education that has altered my life. Carried me far." This quote was drawn from the story "The Hunger of Memory." In this essay I will answer the prompt "To what extent does a person's culture inform the way we view others and the world." I will defend that prompt by saying "Our culture always informs the way we view people or the world around us." In the stories "Everyday use", "Hunger of Memory" and " Indian Father Plea." They are all good examples of my thesis statement because they use three areas of culture such as education, family and ethnicity. Those all help to explain how culture shapes the way we view things.

A person’s culture influences the way that he or she looks at and interacts with the world. For example, in the story "Everyday Use" education plays a big role in the story." She used to read to us without pity; forcing words, lies, other folks’ habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned us with a lot of knowledge we didn’t necessarily need to know." Mama speaks these words in reference to Dee’s formative years. Rather than her daughter’s intelligence and accomplishments triggering pride in Mama, Dee’s schooling prompts fear and intimidation in her instead. Education is the means through which Dee rejects and belittles her family, thus leading to division and alienation. At the same time, knowledge is a provocation, reminding Mama of the exposure and opportunities she was never given. Also in the story "An Indian Father's Plea" education has affected the way a boy named Wind-Wolf is labeled. "So you see, all of these influences together make him somewhat shy and quiet and perhaps 'slow' according to your standards." Wind-Wolf was raised learning how to weave baskets and he can count more than 40 kinds of birds. But to the school standards he is slow because he is behind in what they want him to learn. The story "The Hunger of Memory" education has help this guy come from the bottom of the world to on top. "It is education that has altered my life. Carried me far." The author was once a little boy with intense family closeness and was extremely alienated from public. To be surrounded in a room full of volumes of Montaigne and Shakespeare and Lawrence. The only thing that has carry him this far to be living in Bel Air is his education. Education will influences ways they view people and ideas throughout the world. Education is not the only thing that also influences culture. Family can also influences your ideas.

A person's culture could be influence by their family and how they grew up. For example, in the story "The Hunger of Memory" family has shaped his life. "What preoccupies me is immediate; the separation I endure with my parents is loss." This means that culturally he has given up on his family and disown them just to get farther in life. With them he thinks about the heritage but he does not really want to since he has become so successful without them. His family has shaped how he looks at things because he has talked in front of crowds about his book and life. In the story "An Indian Father's Plea" the importance of family and culture is talked about through the whole story. "If you ask him how many months there are in a year, he will probably tell you 13." This is because he was taught by their traditional people that there are 13 full moons in a year according to the native tribal calendar and that there are 13 planets and 13 tail feathers in an eagle. Wind-Wolf has learned these things from when he was first born so he thinks they are right no matter what anybody else says since his family taught him that. His family had a good explanation to believe for why there would be 13 months in a year instead of 12. So Wind-Wolf family shapes the way he believe and sees things throughout school and life. From the story "Everyday Use" family has shaped the way the two sisters view each other and their mom. "Have you ever seen a lame animal, perhaps a dog run over by some careless person rich enough to own a car, side up to someone who is ignorant enough to be kind to him? This is the way my Maggie walks. She knows she is not bright. Like good looks and money, quickness passes her by." This quote is about Mama when narrates these words as Maggie joins her in the yard to wait for Dee. In this brief quotation she bluntly characterizes Maggie as a pathetic figure who shows the effects of her sheltered life and disfigurement. Maggie’s crushed spirit and withering, withdrawn nature disappoint Mama, but she ultimately chooses Maggie’s simplicity and faithfulness over Dee’s shallow selfishness. Mama feels she is the protector of one daughter and the victim of the other. She dreams of the impending marriage that will relieve her of the burden of Maggie and leave her to a quiet life. These quotes from the stories really help to show how family can change you as a person and view other people in life. Ethnicity can influence your ideas and what you do in life.

Another main area of culture is ethnicity which will shape how you view people and the world around you. For example, in the story "An Indian Father's Plea" ethnicity has a role in the story. "He is probably what you would consider a typical Indian kid. He was born and raised on a reservation." His ethnicity comes out right away by telling you that he is Indian and people view him a bit different. He learned different then other kids like how to count. People will also look at him a little different and some could say he is a "slow" learner but he has his own ways to learn. In the story "The Hunger of Memory" ethnicity is a big part in his story from how he was on bottom but rose to the top. "Aztec ruin hold no special interest for me. I do not search Mexican graveyards for ties to unnamable ancestors." In this quote he is explaining how he is going to leave his ethnicity of being Mexican behind. So that he can rise up without having a burden of people judging you by your race or what your background is. A live a normal American life. In "Everyday Use" ethnicity plays a big role on Dee. "And Dee. I see her standing off under the sweet gum tree she used to dig gum out of, a look of concentration on her face as she watched the last dingy gray board of house fall in towards the red hot brick chimney." Angered by what she views as a history of oppression in her family, Dee has constructed a new heritage for herself and rejected her real heritage. She fails to see the family legacy of her given name and takes on a new name, Wangero, which she believes more accurately represents her African heritage. However, the new name, like the “African” clothes and jewelry she wears to make a statement, is meaningless. She has little true understanding of Africa, so what she considers her true heritage is actually empty and false. Overall culture is influence by many different things through your life.

In conclusion whether you believe culture plays a big part in how you view people and the world. It is true that it does. Education shapes how you view people by how much money they have and what level of education they have. Family draws you an image of the world by what you believe and how you were raised whether to like a certain thing or not. Ethnicity creates a way you see things by people race or religion. Like some people look different at other races than their own race. In the end culture will always shape the way you view things in life if you think something is right or wrong.