Identity and Belonging in Shanghai Girls and Silver like Dust

â€Å"As we journey through life, identity and belonging must be consistently renegotiated.† Each person’s identity goes through a process of stages in order to be fully developed and be a whole identity. Some people needs more time than others to attain a full, whole identity. There are many factors which play a role in sharpens people’s identity such as the environment that the people love in and the experiences that they went through. Undoubtedly, immigrants, especially those form two different cultures, need more time to achieve a stable and whole identity as they become trapped between two cultures, unable to categorize themselves with a particular one. For instance, it is very hard for Asian Americans, especially the first and second†¦show more content†¦She tries to be a good citizen to be an American to the extent that she and her husband â€Å"never spoke the language [Japanese] at home and chose not to teach their children. After the war, they no doubt thought that it best to avoid practices that might lead neighbors to believe they weren’t American† (104). Pearl’s identity and belonging change as she continues her life’s journey. To begin with, in China Pearl used to be independent, self confident, and free. She belongs to the bourgeoisie â€Å"As members of the bu-er-ch’iao-ya—bourgeois class—our family is prosperous enough that our seven servants take turns eating their meals on the front steps, letting the rickshaw pullers and beggars who pass know that those who work for the Chins have regular food to eat and a reliable roof over their heads.† (See7). Although, her father was rich and she does need to work in order to get money she worked in two jobs. The first job as a model, and the other as an English teacher for a Japanese captain. Moreover, the missionary school that Pearl went to form a part of Pearl’s identity. First, it forms Pearl’s religious identity as it was the reason why she became Christian while her parents are not â€Å"In Shanghai, May and I celebrated the b irth of the baby Jesus at the mission school, but it wasn’t a holidayShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesâ€Å"massification† of reproduction, production, trade, and transportation, as well as communication, consumption, and culture. Mass migration is an integral part of these broader global processes that have shaped the modern world. Dating the shift is—like the periodization of any social process—a slippery affair. But for mass migration, and for some of the other linked processes, the first half of the nineteenth century offers a more meaningful turning point than the beginning of the twentieth. The