A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki - Essay Example Essentially, Takaki uses this article to explicitly show how the southern plantation owners were determined to replace the â€Å"black† farmers and labourers with the Chinese. This is because they believed that the Chinese were more hardworking and industrious and thus they could teach the â€Å"black† labourers to become equally hardworking and industrious. Comparatively, Takaki uses this article to complicate the commonly held perceptions regarding interracial competition by pointing out that the immigrants from different backgrounds attempted to get along with one another. To explicate, Takaki presents how both the Japanese, Mexican and Asian workers worked unanimously, ignoring their racial problems and differences. In addition, by stating that the Japanese immigrants thought that in America â€Å"money grows in trees,† (Takaki, 1993), Takaki aims to clarify how indeed the immigrants saw America as a land of many opportunities. Bharati Mukherjee, the author of the article â€Å"Jasmine† argues that like the character Jasmine, many immigrant Americans, including her, have tended to present themselves as Americans, cutting off their association with the traditional world which surprisingly predetermines their fate. Generally speaking, after the main character Jasmine losses her husband at a tender age of only seventeen years through a bomb attack (Mkherjee, 1989, p. 12), she is depressed and seems destined to live a solitude and lonely life, in a rural Indian village which is also her birthplace. However, Jasmine has burning desires to explore a more dangerous and larger world. Originally, Jasmine and her husband were planning to move to Florida. Nonetheless, after her husband’s death, Jasmine decides to single-handedly take the long journey.  Notably important, as she travels, Jasmine is faced with many challenges and obstacles thus transforming her into a more adventurous and stressful life.