Generation Gaps, Essay Example

People commonly experience generation gaps. The stories and lessons that are common among specific generations change by the time the next one is born, and these ideas appear foreign to the newcomers. In the modern era, this is commonplace due to the dramatic technology advances that have occurred during the last decade. When my mother was growing up, she was lucky to have a television with color, while today it is common to have large flat screen sets that are able to connect to the internet. While the generation that came before mine has been able to adapt to these changes, my grandmothers generation has been unable to adapt altogether. This creates an interesting experience gap in which older generations are living in the new world without fully understanding what the real world is.

In Two Kinds, Amy Tan discusses many an experience that she shared with her mother that reflect this generation gap. In one example, Amy’s mother decided that she wanted her to become the “Chinese Shirley Temple” (Tan, 1989). This is representative of generational difference because it is well known that Shirley Temple is an icon to older adults, and even though young adults can identify her and have seen her films, they do not hold her to the same esteem. Therefore, Amy’s mother’s dream for her daughter to achieve Shirley Temple status is a generational goal. Friends of mine who are currently having children may want their children to achieve fame similar to Mila Kunis or Ashton Kutcher instead.

While growing up, I was very close to my parents and grandparents, although I noticed that to some extent, they were stuck in the past. They constantly reminded me about certain aspects of the area in which I grew up and how it has changed since they were young. Most distinctively though, my mother tells me about her visit to the 1964 New York World’s Fair and highlights this as one of the major events of her life. Her whole family attended, and she seems to remember it fondly even though she was somewhat young at the time. Furthermore, she considered this trip to be a big deal because her parents were just starting out and the journey was extravagant compared to the entertainment that they would usually partake in. There are many types of discussions that encourage my mother to revisit her memory of attending the fair, and it is a constant reminder of the world that used to be. Not only would World’s Fairs not be viable now due to the size of the fairgrounds and the number of people that would be willing to visit, but the need for them has diminished altogether. While the fair used to serve as the pinnacle for presenting new technology and predicting concepts that would be introduced in the future, technological development currently occurs at too quick a rate for their yearly public presentation to be relevant.

Ultimately, the World’s Fair represents a generation gap between my generation and my mothers, and even a gap between my generation and my grandmothers. The World’s Fair was a relevant even in both their times and also represents a lifestyle that lacks technology. While life may not be necessarily easier now in certain aspects, it is different, and it is interesting to see who can adjust and cannot. Those that have adapted to the presence of technology live very different lives than those who do not. Therefore, generation gaps cannot be avoided.

References

Amy Tan. (1989). Two Kinds. New York: Oxford University Press.