"Love and Honour and and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice"

In this short story, the main character, son of a Vietnamese immigrant, and his father, reflect on the upbringing of the son and how it affected and shaped the growth of the son later on in his life. The struggle in the story is based on the methods the father used to teach and discipline the son, though very harsh. The extremity of the discipline caused for the son to eventually distant himself from his father, causing a sort of rift between them as a result of the past. The son writes about the experience growing up with a strict Vietnamese father, which eventually drove the father to burn the writings as he did not approve of it. The son fought to deviate from the strict teachings of his father by having a girlfriend, having a passion for writing, and having a much more positive outlook on his life. I think that this story resonates with me because of the similar ways that my parents disciplined me when I was growing up, how they weren't traditional as they were strange but understandable now that I reflect upon them. In addition to that, I think that now that I'm out of the house, I am free to choose the lifestyle that I want without having restrictions placed on my choices because all of that was done prior in the process of shaping my mind growing up. This seems to be a similar progression for children of immigrants as they are taught the traditional ways growing up and become free to choose to do what they want after the teaching time is up.