The foreigner’s perceptual experience of America has an array of unusual imposts. traditions and merchandises that many American born people don’t see. Immigrants tend to happen their sense of belonging and individuality through waies. These waies normally follow an foreigners position of how America is stereotyped. The novel. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner. by Bich Minh Nguyen. shows Bich’s effort to believe that she fits into American society. When Bich moved from Vietnam to Grand Rapids. Michigan. she had the purpose of going American. Her male parent marries Rose. a new mother-figure to Bich. who Bich feels holds her dorsum in her pursuit to experience more American. Throughout the book. Bich keeps conveying up the term “missing-ness” when she talks about her yesteryear. and her ideas about where she is today. Bich Minh Nguyen found her belonging through the aliens stereotypes of America such as nutrient. money. and names.

Suiting into American has been a major subject for my English classs for the last 3 old ages. From an inside position. it doesn’t seem really hard to be able to suit into a state where merely about anything is acceptable. Known as “the runing pot” of different civilizations. America should be welcoming to non-Americans. The male parent describes a dramatic minute in their in-migration procedure when he says. “We are people without a state. until we walk out of that gate. and so we are American” ( Nguyen. 10 ) . The household is lost. a free agent before they take their first stairss on American dirt. A powerful experience that they will certainly ne’er bury. Sing all the American people. Bich describes her first minutes unwelcoming. stating. “Come on in. Now Transform. And if you can non. so disappear” ( Nguyen. 11 ) . Confronting a Crown that seems unfriendly. Bich turns to other different ways to belong in America.

Food in America is clearly different from that of nutrient in other states. We have many options. and from 1s framing an American can even order nutrient that derives from an array of other states. To Bich. adjustment in meant nutrient. and “food meant American Burgers and fries” ( Nguyen 48 ) . The stating ‘you are what you eat’ is a metaphor that applies to this state of affairs. since Bich’s desire is to be American. To accomplish this end. she is taking American nutrients and she believes this will do her a portion of the United States. Bich’s quest for new nutrients is described when she says. “I wanted to enjoy new nutrient. different nutrient. ‘white food’ . I was convinced that I was falling far behind on going American. and so what would go on to me? I would be an castaway for the remainder of my days” ( Nguyen. 52 ) . She believes that she needs to suit into her new state. and thinks that by non eating American nutrient. she doesn’t belong.

The repetitiousness of the nutrient they ate was a job every bit good. Bich blames a batch of her individuality jobs on Rose. Bich describes the manner Rose chose nutrient when she says. “She besides had clear penchants. like olive loaf alternatively of Bologna. orange Faygo alternatively of Crush. raisin cookies alternatively of cocoa bit. She sprinkled wheat source on Citrus paradisi and bought maple sugar burgoo over Prunus persicas and pick. These little differences accumulated within my turning reserve of shame and bitterness. as if Rosa herself were forestalling me from suiting in and being like everyone else” ( Nguyen. 52 ) . Bich wants to take her ain connexion to her new state. she wants the be eating the same things that her schoolmates are eating. She want to be able to populate freely like she thinks that all Americans do. Throughout the book she becomes agitated. at one point traveling on work stoppage against Rosa. “I was ill and tired of eating the same things — pho and stir-fries. sopa and rice –and I was traveling on work stoppage until we started eating better nutrient. ” ( Nguyen. 127 ) . Bich is prosecuting an American individuality and Rosa is keeping her dorsum by non allowing her experience the American nutrient she wants.

The thought of American nutrient is what feeds Bich’s quest to detect her individuality as an American schoolgirl. Rosa holds Bich back by non allowing her eat the nutrients that all the other school misss are eating. Bich does non happen a solution to her feelings of “missing-ness” . although she does detect that she still has ties to Vietnam and her old life. The “missing-ness” was a fire being fed by her inability to suit in category. in the tiffin room. and on the streets. This book brings visible radiation to the misconceptions of America as an immigrant. and what life is like seeking to intermix two civilizations together.

Work Cited.

Nguyen. Bich M. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner: A Memoir. New York: Viking. 2007. Print.