Comparison of American and Vietnamese Culture - 2261 Words

For this paper I will examine Vietnamese culture according to the five essential questions all cultures must answer (according to Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck). I will then take those answers and compare then to out culture here in America. I realize that some might argue that using North American culture as a starting point is an attempt to simplify this writing, but I believe that any initial examination of something new is most effectively done in comparison to what one already knows. The first essential question Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck ask is â€Å"how do they view human nature?† (Obilade 2008). The predominant view of human nature in Vietnam is deeply rooted in Buddhist thought. Buddhism teaches that humans are born to suffer†¦show more content†¦I’ll answer that question by looking at the most fundamental social unit of any culture†¦the family. In Vietnam, independence is far from desirable, much less respected. Family connections are so powerful that i t is not unheard of for as many as three generations to live in the same household (often the direct result of grown children’s desire to do whatever necessary to care for their aging parents). Someone’s success or failure is never seen as theirs alone, but is directly credible to the family. If one wished to insult a Vietnamese person, one could simply refer to the Vietnamese person as â€Å"ill bred†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦thereby damaging the individual and the family equally. Family connections are so strong in fact, that a hard life is often viewed as the result of improper behavior committed by ones’ ancestors (Wubker 2008). In direct contrast to the Vietnamese, the familial bonds within American families are much weaker. Familial closeness is mostly reserved for the nuclear family (husband, wife, and their respective children). Most Americans would certainly scoff at the idea of housing multiple generations within the same home. In fact, many couples make a conscious effort following marriage to avoid living too close to the parents of either party. A married couple’s life is their life, and there (more often than not) is a line that can be crossed where involvement comes to be seen as interference. American parents feel prideShow MoreRelatedVietnamese Immigration into the United States1664 Words   |  7 PagesCalifornia has the largest Vietnamese population of 581,946 in the United States. Before 1975 there were very few Vietnamese liv ing in the United States. After the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon in 1975, many Vietnamese refugees fled Vietnam resulting in three major waves of immigration. The first and second waves of immigration played a major role in Vietnamese refugees resettling in California. The last wave in the 1990s centered on family reunification. 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