A person's family, race, culture and lifestyle within a society or community are just a few factors which give it an identity. Coming to terms with understanding one's identity is not easy due to the many factors that define it and can take a lifetime to finally understand who he or she is. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" and Jhumpa Lahiri's "My Two-Lives" are both pieces of writing whose characters share these contradictory identifying factors, but who nevertheless have very different views on which of these factors are the most valuable to allow them to be accepted. in their societies or communities. A person's race, for example, can represent a certain uniqueness and pride, but it can sometimes cause feelings of shame and anger, especially when a person is mixed with more than one race or nationality. This kind of behavior is observed in “My Two Lives” by Jhumpa Lahiri. This writing represents two completely opposing cultures where the narrator finds herself in conflict between the two. There are other identity factors, such as her family, society and relationships, which are sometimes intertwined, making it much more difficult for her to identify with herself. Jhumpa struggled for thirty-seven years to feel that sense of belonging in America. “Like many descendants of immigrants, I felt intense pressure to be two things: faithful to the old world and master of the new, approved on either side of the hyphen” (Lahiri 647). Early in her life, she was torn between two different personalities because she could not fully be herself, neither at school with her friends, nor at home with her parents. His parents never considered themselves Americans. Even though they lived in the United States, they still followed their Indian culture middle of paper...which is more important to focus on so their societies can accept them. The girl struggles to fit into society as a respectable woman with the help of her mother, unlike Jhumpa who focuses more on acceptance into her society with two different cultures that she tries so hard to blend in. Each character's identity factors, such as family, race, and culture, were heavily influenced by their society or community and therefore ultimately given an identity. Works Cited Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. By John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2000. 55-56. Print.Lahiri, Jhumpa. “My two lives.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. By John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2000. 646-48. Print.