After reading the short story Flame, and the discussions we had in class and in our small groups I think one thing in particular stood out to me. Out of all the points and themes in this story I thought the relationship between Nimei and her mother, and the cultural contrast between the relationship with most Americans and their parents really caught my attention. With Nimei clearly choosing obedience to her parents over the man she was in love with, it was obvious where her priories lied. Even though she came to regret her choice later, at the time I think she was confident in her choice and in her loyalty to her mother, and even in a way to her town. However, I think that situation would have played out a lot differently if it were happening to an American family, and it also made me question what I would do in that situation. Although I think it is normally an important American value to respect and honor your parents, it’s definitely not as important as it is in Chinese society. In most cases in the U.S. people marry completely based off of love, or maybe some economic reasons in different cases. And although that makes the choice sound completely independent, I think our parents still play a large role in who we marry. After all they raised us for years, and we all most likely share some of their preferences and they strongly effect most decisions we make. So at a first glance I thought that this was a very strong cultural difference, but reflecting on it further I really think Chinese and American culture aren’t all too different in this aspect.
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