The canadian short story Flowers for weddings and funerals by Sandra Birdsell
Indledning
Canada: a country, which is notorious for respecting and tolerating other cultures. For numerous decades there have been foreign people immigrating and settling for new lives in the country, which makes it a common thing to come from a different descent.
This mixture of different races and cultures is illustrated in Sandra Birdsell’s short story, “Flowers for weddings and funerals”.
The short story shows a distinction between two very different cultures. Through this distinction, we are presented with the possible difficulties of being a young person of mixed ethnicity, despite living in a tolerant country.
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Uddrag
The main theme of the story is, first and foremost, multiculturalism. The interactions between the two cultures and the way the clash of different ethnicities affects the narrator, are the most noticeable topics in “Flowers for weddings and funerals”.
Furthermore, it shows us the impact it can leave on young people in general.
As a reader you are also given specific examples of the contrarieties: “In the old country, we didn’t waste fruit. Not like here where people let it fall to the ground and then go to the store and buy what they could have made for themselves…”
The theme of multiculturalism goes hand in hand with globalisation, which is also a major theme in the short story.
Globalisation is felt all across the world and things like poverty, war, or simply the search for a fresh start, are all examples of reasons for emigration.
Friendship and family are major subjects as well. The chemistry between the narrator and Laurence provides warmth while simultaneously showing the differences in their backgrounds.
An interesting angle to take into account is that there are many countries that are worse when it comes to being a foreigner.
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