Family culture can strengthen us but it can also burden us. In the novel ‘Unpolished Gem’ written by Alice Pung, Alice as a young child learns from how to act from her family culture. She must be respectful, appreciative, and educated in contrast to her family who family who were less fortunate when they were younger. Although family culture is the unique way that a family forms itself in terms of rules, roles, traditions, beliefs and gives you an indication and influences who you are It can also have some negative impacts of not feeling like you belong etc. Every family is different as every family has their own culture; similar to Alice I belong to a culture and a religion and have certain traditions and beliefs.
Throughout the novel Alice experiences the negatives and positives of her Culture which is Cambodian/Asian. Some of the good things about her religion and culture are that it keeps her in line as her “Typical Asian mother” and grandmother are strict on her as that is how they were raised and brought up, therefore she does not rebel and kept neutral by her family. It also makes her appreciate what she has, as she is happy to at least have some sort of culture and traditions and a family to share that with even though they are strict, at the end of the day she values it. Alice’s ethnic background and culture shapes who she is and that she is not the same as anyone else, she is an individual and different. Her culture is also significant to her as she fits in with a group of people who are the same religion and culture as Alice so she feels like she belongs even though she is in a different country with different people and cultures and the world is constantly changing her culture and family will be there for her as a reminder that she fits in and that she belongs.
In contrast Alice also experiences the negatives burdens of her culture whilst she is growing up. Due to her culture she is unable to be like every other child, this is evident as her...