This first person narrative perspective emphasizes that even though Diana was happy about being an individual and going her own way, she slightly regretted it due to how her mother saw her. Both these examples state that individuality has a price as Boy comes to the realization that he is more mature than his father ("I'm not [like you]"), whilst Diana let "the hurt sink deeper into my soul" because she chose to not tell her mom how she truly felt. These texts are different to one another since Boy stood up for himself, eventually establishing a closer bond with his father whereas Diana "Made her (mom) lose face." Therefore, both Boy and Diana have different styles of individuality and each we can learn a lesson from.
In addition, individuality can be achieved if we grow up and make difficult decisions. This is shown in Boy, when Alamein abandons his family for the 'thug life' because he could not deal with the death of his wife. There was a scene where Alamein rips off the symbolic "Crazy Horses" patch on his jacket. This symbol is used to represent the idea that Alamein is no longer the "thug" he used to be. He finally realizes that he's been such an irresponsible father all the way through and will start to be a better one. Alamein influences Boy to make the wrong decisions, and he left his family behind; he didn't care about them. Diana, in "5 Ways to Disappoint Your Vietnamese Mother" was kicked out of her house. Even though Diana found freedom, she was known as the girl who brought shame to her family. She disobeyed her mom and had a boyfriend before after university. Additionally, she chose to stay with him and slept on a foam mattress on the floor.
The extract stated, "To my mother, I was the s*** daughter. I am still with my boyfriend after five years and I'm still a s*** in her eyes. I guess I will be for the rest of my life." This quote tells us that by making hard decisions, she'd rather be a "s***" in her mother's eyes instead of obeying her.
