Reading from diverse positions

What is the world’s ethos – the guiding beliefs or ideas that characterize the world?

Reading the story Whites by Julia Otsuka, we immediately dive into a world of uncertainty and wondering through undiscovered lands without being able to see into the future. This world seems unstable, uncomfortable and there fore comes with a lot of hope and believe and the dreams of a brighter life down the line.

There are two points of views to this question or this world’s particular ethos – the world of the Japanese and the world of the Americans.

I would like to continue my thoughts from above and learn more about the uncertain life of the group of people, who travelled to a new country. A guiding voice in their heads makes them hopeful and turns them into hard workers. They obey the rules of their new surroundings and ‘employees’ and believe that with all the hard work they do, they will be able to help and support their families back home, even though they are completely in the dark, neither understanding the native culture nor speaking their language. They live with a strong sense of community and commitment toward their loved ones, doing things they would never thought they would have to do in order to live a better life.

The world they are physically in is the same as the natives of this country, but mentally the two groups of people live in a completely different atmosphere. The Americans have the complete force and their ethos is all about their own rules and the belief that they could reign over another human being.

This story reminds me of the political issues we are facing in Europe with the immigrants from Syria, trying to find a place outside of their country and work towards a better life, away from the terror. Their world and their hearts are also filled with hope for a better future.