Clash of the Generations

We've all experienced some sort of disagreement with our parents at one time or another.  Just a few days ago, I had an argument with my mother about Kate Gosselin.  People fight with their parents over petty things, and also over very important philosophical ideas.  I think the clash of the generations that goes on in "Who's Irish?" is over a more philosophical idea.  Sure, there are petty differences showed between Natalie and her mother, but the big issue is the cultural difference between the two.  Natalie's mother was raised in China where the family values are quite different than in America.  Like she says, "In China, daughter take care of mother.  Here it is the other way around," (p. 178).  Natalie, who grew up in America, thinks in the American way about family.  Mama also has problems with the way Sophie behaves.  She doesn't act like a good Chinese girl should act, and Natalie says that it stems from the babysitter, Amy.  Amy was creative and allowed Sophie to 'express herself' by taking off her clothes letting her run around like a crazy person.  Their differences in opinion begin to clash here, but become elevated when Natalie and John find Sophie asleep in the foxhole with bruises all over her body.  When Natalie finds out that her mother has been spanking Sophie after explicitly telling her mother not to, she decides that her mother should move somewhere else.  It is this difference of opinion that pushes Natalie over the edge and changes her relationship with her mother indefinitely.  Mama doesn't understand what is so wrong with spanking, since it gets the child to behave, but Natalie believes it's not healthy for Sophie's self-esteem to be spanked.  Here is where we see the biggest clash of ideologies.  The Old School and the New School disagree with how to raise a child, and their inability to see the others point of view makes them unable to get along.  This shows how similar the two women really are.  They are both too stubborn to see the others point of view.

One person, however, does see things in the same way Mama does: Bess.  Although she and Bess come from two different cultures from opposite sides of the world, they find that they are more alike than what they thought.  Bess acts as a kind of medium between Natalie and her mother.  At the end of the story, when Natalie stops bringing Sophie over, Bess tells Mama "we should give Nattie time, we will see Sophie again soon," (p. 186).  The two women come from the same time period and share similar values.  Bess is understanding and cares about keeping the peace and listening to everyone's opinion.  It is Bess who changes Mama's opinion of the Irish, and gets her to see past their racial differences.  As she says at the end, "Of course, I shouldn't say Irish this, Irish that, especially now I am become honorary Irish myself, according to Bess. Me!  Who's Irish?" (p. 186).  I think it is this acceptance that gets the reader to see that the story is not about a difference between race or culture, but rather a difference between generations. 

Here's a YouTube video that talks about generational differences.  Although it talks about generational differences in the workplace, there are a few points in the video that show different problems that are in the story.