How far are you able to go to make a suitable life
for your family? Even if it mean traveling to another
country with different culture and a new tradition which will impact you
differently. Culture is sharing the same
set of believes, values, manner, action,
and tradition that group of people have and passed down from one generation to another.
(Smith, p, 1, 2). While, cultural encounter means the clash of culture as
result of their meeting, the conflict happens between two cultures at least,
one is the major and the second is minor. As result of this clash, on one hand,
could generate positive results on the society like “(a) connect
disparate mountainous & rural communities, and more importantly (b) bring
about social changes” (Chidester, Tayob and Weisse, 2004). On the other hand
the negative result could be seen in the conflicting values as result of their
differences, which we will see later in the story. Personal identity means who
you are and what you are mentally and physically, and the things that can
reflect your identity, it is the culture, language, things related to the person
by chance and also it could be by choices, which also could effect by cultural
encounter. (Noonan, 1989). Good example of cultural encounter could be found in
the story Bella Makes Life, where she leaves her family to go to America to
make money to comeback totally different person
which impact on the rest of the family at the end, and she ends yp
losing her identity.
First, the
short story Bella makes Life, have two main cultural are encountering they are
the American and the Jamaican cultural, and the encounters leaves some
impacting on the characters involve. From the start of the story we can see the
conflicts and the shocks when the characters see the cultural encounter
for the first time, when Joe Joe sees
Bella at the airport after a year and how she was described by him. The story
highlights the culture and cultural encounter between two culturals that
have different values, traditions and
way of thinking. First, in Jamaican
culture that, is a man dominate society which mean the man has the main role in
working and make the decisions in the family, while the women have the second
role, limited in taking care of the children and the house, and that makes the
man independent and the women depended, also in the Jamaican culture, the
family is very important. Unlike, the American culture, men and women are equal, both are
independent, and both have the rights to make decisions in the family. While
the importance of family is less important than Jamaica culture. What happened in the story is the opposite of
the Jamaican tradition because of the
women who went to New York to make money, which leaded to a clash or cultural
encounter. The types of cultural encounter could be positive or negative
as we mention before. Unfortunately, in this short story we have recognized
that, Bella has adopted the negative attitude from the cultural encounter which
also material cultural. (Fister, 1995) the first change in her personality and
character, when she went to America she adept the American cultural, whoever
when she come back she keep doing the
same things that did in America and in her character, that is revealing itself
which showing how she change she describe
“Bella dressed in some clothes which make her look like a checker cab”.
Moreover, her clothes was described specifically what was ‘’(Goodison, p 167)she
wearing from her stretch-to-black pant
to her yellow and black checked to her new color of her hair’’.
(Goodison, p167). Moreover, it is so
clear in the beginning of the story when he feels embarrassed of her and he want to
disappear. Second, she become what is
call as a materialistic women, who always thinks of new ways of making money, for example “he
thought that all the things in the many suitcases were for their family. No
sir! While Bella brought quite a few things for them, she also brought a lot of
things to sell”. (Goodison, p169). We can
say that Bella represents the cultural encounter in American culture. As result
of that we can figured that the title of
the short story is ironical because while the title is Bella Makes life and
went to America to make money for her life while what really happen is she
ruined her life and separated her family. while Joseph accepted his simple life and has the sense of
sufficiency of what he has. In addition, we can see that the role of men and
women changed and mixed. Bella also can make money and spend it on her
children, she became an independent women who can take care of herself now,
which came with ignoring her family and her role as wife and mother “when Joe
Joe come home from work just wanting a little peace and quiet…. His woman
(Bella) was out selling clothes and things” (Goodison. 169). Theme is
highlighting the difference between the role of men and women in different
cultures. As result, Joseph had to play
the role of the father and the mother in the family by keeping a distance
between him and Ms. Blossom, which showed us the importance of the family in
his culture. Other point is that, we can see that the character of Bella
has changed from a dependent house wife who has a second role in the society,
into an independent woman who can earn her own money. So, Bella’s character is
a dynamic character which we can see her change from the beginning of the story
till the end. Joe Joe is also a dynamic character who was keeping all his
love for Bella gradually, then his attitude changed towards her. After that, he
became close with Ms. Blossom. Ms. Blossom’s character is also a dynamic
character who was aware of her change and she made it intentionally.(Goodison,
p174)
Second, the
background of the author Lorna Goodison plays a main role of her awareness of
cultural encounter. First she born in multicultural family, as her
grandfather is an English man settled in
Jamaica in the ninety century. In
addition, she born and raised in Jamaica and then she went to the school of art
in New York, which show her awareness of it, because she has exposed to many
different cultural and show her awareness in the story and poems. She passed
down the themes of cultural encounter through her stories like ‘’Bella Makes
Life’’. From her experiences of the culture and the cultural encounter, we can see that the
author preferred the Jamaican culture like, by using the values and
traditions of the family. Whereas, she criticized the cultural encounter
by using words and actions. She represented both cultures in two characters;
Bella who represented the culture, as Bella who was represented the cultural
encounter, the ways she utterance like using the word ‘’Block’’, also was
too loud by mixing between the Jamaican language with the black
American English, and the way of thinking like the importance of money, which
could be seen in the difference between the first letter which she wrote when
she missed her husband, while one of her
last letters she wrote, she gave reasons of why she did not contact them
because she wanted to earn more money. All of these are evidences of the
awareness of the author of the effects and the impacts of the cultural
encounters in the language and the way of the difference in thinking.
Other point is that, she shows her Jamaican culture through Joseph’s character
who prefers a simple life, and really consecrates and aware of the value of the
family and the important role of a mother in the family. That could be seen
when Joseph allowed Bella to see her children even after she left
them for the second time to go to America. We can see the result that the
author used in the short story to highlight the effects that she has been through when she was exposed to
the culture encounter.(Goodison, p165,166), (Bailey Nurse, 2011).
Third, there
are three main character in the short story they are, Bella the women who
travel to America to make money and change during the time , Joe Joe the
husband who stay in Jamaica and take care of his children, and then MS Blossom,
a a simple and loving character who Joe Joe like, whoever she change also at
the end of the story. The main character in the short story are aware of the
cultural encounter. That cleared in the beginning of the story which began with
describing how her husband was shocked after seeing her new look of
clothes. She chose the bold attitude to show the affection to Joe Joe in front
of the children and the more fat she has gain. Definitely Joe Joe notice how
Bella changed, he is pleased at first. Then start to change with the look, with
her way of thinking, and with obsession of
collecting money. An Example of the difference of the culture that is
involved in thinking “Bella said America teach her that if you want it go for it”
while Joe Joe’s response is “nearly ask her if she want what?” (Goodison, p169).
In addition, Bella is not aware of her gradual changes because she was too busy
to fit in the new culture, while she is not aware of Joe Joe’s change “ Bella
seemed to be oblivious to the fact that
Joe Joe was under great strain” (Goodison, p172). Joe Joe was aware of Bella's
change over the time, also he was aware
of his change, when he stop from trying to bring the old Bella back and instead
become closer to Ms.Blossom. After that, when Bella came back to Jamaica for
the second time he feel like he is meeting a stranger in the airport, which
show the change that happened to both Bella and to their relationship; from wife
and husband to strangers. Moreover, Ms. Blossom who is fully aware of the
change that happen to both Bella and Joe Joe’s lives in different stages, like,
when Bella return home for the second time, and Joe Joe accept her. Ms. Blossom travel to Fort Lawdadale to come
back to Jamaica with her new look at the end of the story.
Forth, The
clothes in the story plays a main role in highlighting the role of the cultural
encounter as. Clothes plays a main role in identifying who you are and reflect and
reflect you inner self and personality “always remember whatever you ware
should reflect the real you”(Cheruku Srikanth, 2015). The
clothes of Bella is describe repeatedly from the beginning of the story. which
tells us specifically describing the new look, to the new color of her hair to
the booties. The clothes are reflecting the cultural encounter, it also tells
us about the change in Bella's character from a simple look, to a negative and
aggressive attitudes after her awareness of the role that money plays in
someone’s life, also it is reflect her inner also. Second is Joe Joe, he unexpectedly see her outfit became worse than the last time
she returned. For the first time Bella
was described as a checker cab by
Norman, Joseph's brother, and the second time she was described as Miami Vice
"inna a pants suit that look like very cornflowers in the world and the
color them loud! And Bella border than ever”. When Norman reacted to her
clothes, he said that the bees should pick her up from the airport as
criticizing to her clothes. The significance of Bella when she buy the clothes
from America to sell them in Jamaica. How much change has happened to her from
a simple wife to a materialistic woman who works all the time to make money and
knows the importance of it to let her children know the price of everything she
gave them. Important point is the that her clothes also reflect her liberation
as women who use to be tradition and simple who depend on the men to become
free, and her clothes which is the out her and her appearance reflect what
happen in inside her like the big necklace
that she is wearing it to show how she become a materialistic women.
Fifth, the
final encounter was between Joe Joe and Ms. Blossom, it happened when MS Blossom who was a tradition ,simple, caring, giving women, and exalt
example of tradition Jamaican women must be, which the women must look after
the family, to someone look like her but in a different style in clothing. Ms.
Blossom’s clothes are described like if she is dressed as a punk in a full
black from “she had on black socks with a lace frothing over the top of her
black leather ankle boots” (Goodison, p174), which show a full negative change
in Ms. Blossom character and attitudes. Joe Joe did not even bother to ask her
where she went and directly asked her if
she goes to New York, as he is just guessing from her new style that were so close to
Bella’s style of wearing the clothes. However, Joe Joe at the end left her and
when he thought about trying to resolve the cultural encounter by bring someone
from a different culture and bring her to Jamaica as cultural encounter .
Someone from a busy complicated cultural to a simple one as Joe Joe describe
it.
In conclusion,
there was two different cultural encounters; in the story of Bella’s the
cultural encounter was impacted negatively on their attitudes, the people they
were close to them, and their life. Each character has experienced the cultural
encounter differently and resolved it differently. Bella resolve the problem by
going back to America and live there,
while Joe Joe decided to bring someone from America who wants to live a simple
life, and in the case of Ms. Blossom, she decided to change herself
intentionally by going to America. Whoever at the end there is no clear resolve
of the cultural encounter.
Work Cited
Bailey Nurse, Donna. What's A Black Critic To Do II. London, Ont.: Insomniac Press, 2011. Print.
Chidester,
David, Abdulkader Tayob, and Wolfram Weisse. Religion, Politics, And Identity In A Changing South Africa. München: Waxmann Munster, 2004. Print.
Cartwright, Lorin and Rene Revis Shingles. Cultural Competence In Sports
Medicine. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2011. Print.
Education in India . by Cheruku
Srikanth,2015
Fister, Barbara. Third World Women's Literatures. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995. Print.
Goodison, Lorna. “Bella Makes Life” In Caribbean NeN Nave Stewart Brown(rd).
Noonan, Harold
W. Personal Identity. London: Routledge, 1989. Print.
Smith, Philip. Cultural
Theory. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2001.
Shaw,
Andrea Elizabeth. The Embodiment Of Disobedience. Lanham, MD: Lexington
Books, 2006. Print
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