Final Thoughts ...

Choosing to be a responsible citizen in the world these days can be difficult. With the nature of the world around us and how fast things are these days it is easy to get lost in the hype. Technology is constantly moving advancing us and yet we still demand faster. Our grandparents had little form of communication, our parents had land line telephones, and we have everything from cell phones to internet, to blackberries when we can’t answer the phone. With all the technology we often don’t have time for the things we love and care about the most. Working may be a necessary evil, but is an ends to a means. I have chosen a career that will push and test my limits, but knowing ones limitations and were ones values lie makes allows us to benefit the world just by being ourselves. It doesn’t have to be extraordinary to be beneficial, as simple as being kind, working hard to be a productive member of society and treating your family with respect is simple enough.

We have seen this throughout the semester in the multicultural novels that we read. Two of these novels encompass this theme of working hard to be a beneficial member of society. These are Kazuo Ishiguro An Artist of the Floating World and Bharati Mukherjee Jasmine. In Kazuo Ishiguro, the main character Ono is living in a nostalgic world. Once a great artist he gets trapped in nostalgia after Japan losses the war. Ono had once been a contributor to the Japanese propaganda campaign at the height of the war. He was highly respected and had Japan’s campaign been successful ha would have been revered as a hero. Ultimately Ono recognizes that he pursued what he had wanted to and was proud of the work and contribution to Japan.

This is not what was seen in Bharati Mukherjee Jasmine. The main character Jasmine, was born Jyoti and told she would never marry. She seemed cursed to never be happy. She endured hell throughout her life and always maintained a positive outlook. After watching her husband be murdered she pursued their dream and came to Florida only to be raped. Each major event in her life added another chapter to her story and was gave birth to a new woman. Jyoti became Jasmine, Jasmine became Jane. No matter what her name she was willing to help others.

This is what it takes to be a responsible citizen of the floating world these days. Maintaining a great attitude when all goes to hell or contributing to something that so strongly and passionately you devote years of your life only to face ridicule and maintaining the ability to remain proud of your work. Both of these characters had strong family values whether it is a paralyzed husband or young child they love to take care of, or a grandson and daughters they want to be around. With the fast paced nature of our modern society we all need to reflect on how lucky we are and what is truly important because it is not how long we can live or how much wealth we accumulate that is important, but how and who we spend the years of our lives.