Hubba Bubba
Apprentice
Im in the 11th year in school and im just curious what my classtest would be graded in a english / american school.
The text " Aunties and Neighbours" , by Meera Syal , is an extract from " Across Cultures " published in Berlin (2002) and deals with the living together of an Indian family and their Brithish neighbours.
The social behaviour of the narrator´s family is typical from Indian immigrants in England.The narrator family`s attitude towards their British neighbours is bad.Since , only once any neighbour has been invited to their house , it can be said that they are living isolated and separated from the rest of their neighbourhood.Even though the narrator´s mother seems to be accepted by the neighbours she is still gossiping and laughing about the habits of her English friends. Nevertheless, the narrator´s mother is still a good neighbour because she is willing to help out , like taking the neighbour´s son till the mother arrives home again. Not just the mother is gossiping about the English people , it is the whole family sitting together telling stories about other people problems. Atleast the women can be described as nosey. The narrator´s family is disrespecting the culture of their neighbours eventhough everything they know about them is from gossips.The protagonist though is trying to integrate into the neighbourhood by asking her mother to put some effort into the Front Garden. On the other hand Sandy , a neighbour , is fully accepting the narrator´s mother , even counts her as one of them. Still it seems to be strange and foreign for the neighbours when the big family comes together.The living together if the narrator´s family and ther neighbours is almost not existing. It´s just klike living next to each other rather then living together.
I will know analyse the way in wich the narrator´s situation and her attitude are presented , starting with the narratorßs point of view.The narrator is " Indian " (l.13) living in England together with her "mother" (l.4) and her other relatives (l.13). She feels uncomfortable because her Front Garden is " a social embarresment ". Yet she still talks about " we " (l.30) when talking about her culture.This shows that the narrator is trying to integrate into their neighbourhood but still does not see herself as an English.The fact that she " dutifully" kisse every powdered or stubbly cheek with a " Namaste Auntie" (l.23 f ) shows that she knows and accepts her culture. The knowledge about the protagonist´s culture can also be seeens in the lines 28 to 33.I will now analyse her charackter.The protagonist is a child (l.34-35).By kissing everyone`s cheeks she behaves "dutifully" (l.23). Unlike the rest of her family she is interested in what her neighbours think about them. That is why she explains to her neighbours why she seems to have so many aunts and uncles. When asking to buy an ornamental for their front garden she argues that it is " a social embarresment [it was] to have such a bare ". This is how a teenager argues so it can be said that she is a teenage girl. The narrator is probably a girl because she is always talking about her " Aunties" (l.10) , it is unlikely that a boy talks with a group of women in their culture. The protagonist´s language tells alot about her situation and attitude. She uses words like "cos" (l.30) , "Aunties" (l.30) and when trying to explain something she ends the sentence with " see " (l.30) that are all signs of social communication with other English children at her age. So her attitude towards English people is not like the attitude of her family.All in all , the protagonist´s situation is the same like many other Indian teenagers. On the one hand she tries to integrate in the English society , on the other hand she is still living up her culture.
The way the Indian family is living in a Brithish neighbourhood is typical of not just Indian immigrants in England but also many immigrants in Germany. I think living their culture is not a problem at all. It is always interesting seeing other culture´s.The fact that the mother looking after the neighbour´s child is something wich shows integration on both sides. It is always important to interact with people living around you , not just to learn the language but also to live in harmony. When a foreign family with a foreign culture live separeted to the British , people will get nosey and start gossiping.This will lead to a false picture of the culture. And that´s how racism starts. However , it is not acceptable when the mother starts laughing about the British culture. The mother and aunts are telling the narrator that the Brithish treat ther dogs better then their children. That is simply said stupid and ignorant. To come in a foreign country , work and live there without even accepting the culture makes me angry because you do not have to behave like them but at least accept and respect their way of living. To live a proper life in England as an Indian immigrant it should at least be possible to respect the British culture.
The text " Aunties and Neighbours" , by Meera Syal , is an extract from " Across Cultures " published in Berlin (2002) and deals with the living together of an Indian family and their Brithish neighbours.
The social behaviour of the narrator´s family is typical from Indian immigrants in England.The narrator family`s attitude towards their British neighbours is bad.Since , only once any neighbour has been invited to their house , it can be said that they are living isolated and separated from the rest of their neighbourhood.Even though the narrator´s mother seems to be accepted by the neighbours she is still gossiping and laughing about the habits of her English friends. Nevertheless, the narrator´s mother is still a good neighbour because she is willing to help out , like taking the neighbour´s son till the mother arrives home again. Not just the mother is gossiping about the English people , it is the whole family sitting together telling stories about other people problems. Atleast the women can be described as nosey. The narrator´s family is disrespecting the culture of their neighbours eventhough everything they know about them is from gossips.The protagonist though is trying to integrate into the neighbourhood by asking her mother to put some effort into the Front Garden. On the other hand Sandy , a neighbour , is fully accepting the narrator´s mother , even counts her as one of them. Still it seems to be strange and foreign for the neighbours when the big family comes together.The living together if the narrator´s family and ther neighbours is almost not existing. It´s just klike living next to each other rather then living together.
I will know analyse the way in wich the narrator´s situation and her attitude are presented , starting with the narratorßs point of view.The narrator is " Indian " (l.13) living in England together with her "mother" (l.4) and her other relatives (l.13). She feels uncomfortable because her Front Garden is " a social embarresment ". Yet she still talks about " we " (l.30) when talking about her culture.This shows that the narrator is trying to integrate into their neighbourhood but still does not see herself as an English.The fact that she " dutifully" kisse
The way the Indian family is living in a Brithish neighbourhood is typical of not just Indian immigrants in England but also many immigrants in Germany. I think living their culture is not a problem at all. It is always interesting seeing other culture´s.The fact that the mother looking after the neighbour´s child is something wich shows integration on both sides. It is always important to interact with people living around you , not just to learn the language but also to live in harmony. When a foreign family with a foreign culture live separeted to the British , people will get nosey and start gossiping.This will lead to a false picture of the culture. And that´s how racism starts. However , it is not acceptable when the mother starts laughing about the British culture. The mother and aunts are telling the narrator that the Brithish treat ther dogs better then their children. That is simply said stupid and ignorant. To come in a foreign country , work and live there without even accepting the culture makes me angry because you do not have to behave like them but at least accept and respect their way of living. To live a proper life in England as an Indian immigrant it should at least be possible to respect the British culture.
