Cultural and religious views clash upon each other in America. It's a multi-national country where people have been emigrated to for centuries. They live among each other in different ' 'districts'', which have been given names such as China-town, where people with the same cultural background usually lives together. In the short story ''Where the Gods Fly'', that is written by the author Jean Kwok, the Chinese culture and Buddhism collides with the ''American Culture''. What is the right culture? Certain points from a Chinese perspective are given on the so-called ''American Culture'' and it's compared to the Chinese Culture through the Buddhism aspects. Jean Kwok was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Brooklyn, New York when she was just 5 years old, which makes her the perfect author for this short story. .
The story takes place in Chinatown where a mom, her husband and their daughter Pearl live. The first person narrator is the mom that analyzes her daughter's upbringing in America, and watches what influence America has on Pearl. The mom and the father spend most of their time at the factory, inhaling thick fabric dust that also clung to their skin. It resulted in the death of the father, which made the mom alone with Pearl, because they had no relatives or friends they could count on in America. Pearl was scouted at her school for her talent as a dancer and was given a scholarship to a better school. She became popular and everything escalated quickly within years in front the mom and suddenly the mom only saw the American-side of her now teenage-daughter. Pearl went to an audition for the ''legendary'' ballet school and at the auditions; the mom finally realized how good she actually was, besides all the negative influence from Pearl's American friends, when she was gracefully flying through the air as she was dancing on the stage. Pearl was offered the scholarship, but the mom, who'd lost her husband, stood their thinking that it would too hard for Pearl to make it as a ballet dancer.