Who Is The Medicine Bag 'And Who Are You Today Maria'?

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In the two stories we read, “The Medicine Bag” and “Who Are You Today Maria?” we met two characters. Martin, from “The Medicine Bag”,who doesn't know his heritage and background that well. Then Maria, from “Who Are You Today Maria?”,who knows quite a bit about her background and heritage. They had to face who and what their identity is, by the end of the story their identity had been redefined.

The environment these two characters live in plays a huge role in defining their identity. Martin lives in a suburb with fancy little dogs, he is not around Indians which makes sense why he might not know a lot about his heritage and practice traditions. Martin likes to exaggerate to his friends about his culture to try and impress them, but in reality he doesn't know a lot about where he comes from. However, Maria lives in New York City with her grandmother. In her community and school it is very diverse, everybody stays and hangs out with their “own groups” which helps Maria embrace her identity. …show more content…
He only sees him once a year during the summer for one week, so Martin doesn't connect with him that well because he doesn't know a whole lot about him. Also when Martin first saw him walking down the street he was a little embarrassed of him by the way he was dressed and carried himself. On the other hand Maria is very close to her grandma. Maria goes to her for advice and knows a lot about her history. There is a shawl of her grandmothers that Maria's great grandmother made and is very important to her grandmother. Maria knows this shawl is very important to her grandmother and family so she wears it on who you are day at
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