"Comparison Of The Word Love and People of the Sierras." This depicts the comparison between cultures in India and Italy and their courting process.

Essay by PrivateDickCollege, UndergraduateA-, November 2007

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The short story “The Word Love” and informational essay “The People of The Sierra” share cultural similarities between the women of the Sierra and Divakaruni’s heroine. These two pieces are written continents apart from one another; yet the familiar pattern of courtship and cultural values have a connection to both works. The upbringing of children, courtship, and premarital expectations are all expressed in these depictions of two different cultures.

Before courtship or beginning to rear children, the proper upbringing of a child is key to the determination of its marital status in the community; along with the reflection of the parent’s ability to raise the child. Both articles stressed the importance of a child doing as it was told in reflection of the parent. “The Word Love” stresses the importance of a child obeying its parents, and those of the community. The children’s story of the young girl who had not listened to her father, and those in the community, and lived her life frivolously disclosed the importance of an obedient child and firm upbringing.

Without the proper upbringing the child had become pregnant out of wedlock and killed herself. This resulted in the father leaving the town out of shame for himself, and his daughter. In the Sierras, as well as in the Indian community, the discipline of the child is key. In the Sierra culture children were raised to be respectful and quiet, not to seek attention. Children who entertained, danced for their relatives, or demanded attention reflected poorly on their parents. The need for attention, or to perform showed that the child was uneducated in the manners of society. In the Sierras the child’s recklessness pointed out the parent’s lack of discipline in the child to conform to the culture.

The courtship process in both articles...