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Essay / Comparison of the representation of cultures in The Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel and Gifts from my aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi
Culture defines the way in which groups and individuals interact with people of the same culture and people from different cultures. It appears in the form of language, religion and community behaviors such as traditions, superstitions, beliefs and activities. Culture is transmitted from generation to generation through knowledge sharing and communication. It is through culture that individuals understand their role within society and develop a mindset consistent with the values and behaviors of other members of their culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “The Night of the Scorpion” by Nissim Ezekiel explores a night when his mother is stung by a scorpion and we are told of the event from her child's perspective. It talks about how all the villagers come to help the mother when she got stung using their superstitions and try to give her hope by telling her that all the pain and suffering she is going through will reduce the pain and the suffering of his next life. However, none of their tries worked, so the father tried using herbs that didn't work either and it turned out that they just had to wait and she would get better. At the end of the poem, the mother was happy that the scorpion had stung her and not her children. “Gifts from my aunts in Pakistan”, written by Moniza Alvi, gives voice to a young person who has lived far from her native country for a long time. some time. The voice reflects how she has adapted to her new home. The speaker receives gifts given to her by her aunts, who still live in Pakistan. The speaker mentions that she moved to England because she had an English grandmother and Pakistan became a dangerous place for her. It also explores the memories she had in her native country. Nonetheless, in "The Night of the Scorpion", one of the ways the culture is represented is how all the villagers rush to the mother to help her when they discover she has been stung. by a scorpion as mentioned in the poem "The peasants came like a swarm of flies" which shows the speed and number of all the villagers and proves that the villagers wanted to help heal and cheer up the mother (give her a little hope). They try to cure her using their religious beliefs, as the poet mentions “…sounded the name of God a hundred times”. This part of their culture is negative because when the villagers arrived they didn't have proper medicine so it was just a huge disruption for the mother because she was maybe ashamed to scream in pain in front of them because it would show that their superstitions were false. it is not effective. However, this could also be seen as a positive aspect of their culture because it proves that the villagers feel responsible to help anyone in the village who needs help. Additionally, there is a great search for the scorpion as they believe that every movement of the scorpion will cause the poison to circulate in the mother's blood faster, as the poet mentions: "With every movement that the scorpion made, its poison would was moving in the mother's blood, they said. This is a positive aspect of their culture because since the villagers did not have a real cure for the mother, they decided to help her using one of their superstitions. The villagers helped her a little physically, but they mainly focused on praying,.