Essay About Symbol Of Culture And Strong Marriage

My Mother Combs My Hair
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The poem “My Mother Combs My Hair”, by Chitra Banerjee
Divakarun, is about the difference between two generations. In this
poem, hair is portrayed as a symbol of culture, the mother is a symbol of
the older generations and the daughter is a symbol of the younger
generation. In my opinion the mother should try to accept that the hair,
“the culture”, is not the same and that the world is evolving.
The mother believes that long, healthy hair is the key to happiness
and a strong marriage because that is what her culture has taught her. In
this poem, the daughter states that “At their marriage, she told me
because of her hair he did not ask for a dowry”. I think that the mother
has a strong point and I do understand that her daughter is disrespecting
the religion, but she also has a reasonable argument.
The daughter seems very self conscious and she feels ashamed. I
think she feels this way because of the way her mother reacts about her
not following their traditions. I can sense the sadness and the fault she
feels when she said “I can read regret in her fingers untangling snarls”. I
think that one of her really good points about the hair, is that even
though her mother did have such beautiful hair, it didnt make her father
stay. So she has the right to use that as a strong base.
I can relate to the daughter because I was born in Trinidad and I
moved to Florida when I was 7 years old, so my parents are very strict. I
think that they have both altered their rules and their expectations to the
American culture, while still managing to keep our family values. My
mother, personally, always argues with me about the way I carry my self.
She gets very aggravated and annoyed if I use something that damages
or dries out