ncestry and both types of labeling are present in the story Grandma Went to Smith, All Right, but She Went from Nine to Five: A Memoir by Patricia Clark Smith. Patricia, the main character of the story, grows up in a very ethnic family. Her mother is French-Canadian, while her father is Irish. This provides for two distinct influences in her life by customs and attitudes passed down from each side. For example, her grandmother from her mothers side, teaches Pat old prayers and sings to her in French.Patricia and her family are labeled as low-income working-class, and Pat is ostracized because of it. Every kid on this Apple tree is coming to my birthday party except Pat Clark...and you know why...hah hah you live at Hampshire Heights [the projects]. (197) On the other hand, because of her class, Pat has many friends in the same situation, and has banded together with them. Our bond was the stronger...we had become suddenly identifiably lumped together. (196)Another way identity is cultivated is through family. Family can influence religious beliefs, speech patterns, eating habits...the list goes on. Family values are usually passed down through each generation. There are signs of this in Grandma Went to Smith, All Right, but She Went from Nine to Five: A Memoir by Patricia Clark Smith. I grew up in a politically progressive family, where unions and strikes were common table talk. (194)Children can also influence parents. In The Object Lesson by Sharon Oard Warner, Laurel tries to ask her son to wash the same blood-stained sheets.When he refuses, she attempts to force him. Laurel fears that her son Will is taking the same road she did. A road that left her with a young son and no husband. [Will is] Such a fool, she thinks, such a dear, sweet fool...Shed ruined her life, just like her mother had said she would. (224) By the end of the story, Will has washed Laurels sheets, sheets dirtied by a married man who visits in th...
