Tug of War

 In the novel, The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui, we see how she is forced to assimilate to the american way of life. In the beginning of the graphic novel, Thi desperately wants to perform a natural child birth, which means no drugs involved, she wants to do this because that is how her mother did it. But it isn't that easy. Thi is doing it in the US where the drugs are abundant and waiting for her to use them, on top of that she is being pressured by the nurse and society to accept the drugs and assimilate to the American norm. 

This them of being in that in between is displayed by second generation immigrants especially, these people such as I are constantly pressured by our parents to achieve unrealistically high grades and are held to unhealthy standards. Second generation immigrants are faced with pressure from both sides with the other, American side, pressuring them to go out and have fun rather than study. 

This constant tug from both sides isn't easy, and can overtime cause a rift to form. They feel isolated from their parents because they haven't performed to their standards and they have a constant feeling that they've let them down. But they cant find comfort in society because they haven't filled their standards for how to live life. So in the end their are three types of second generation immigrants, the fully assimilated, the one isolated from others, and the cultural ones who have not assimilated.