Childhood is when people learn about the world, their identity, their values, and their fears, all of which they use to shape the way they pursue and act in life as adults. An American poet and author, Louise Glück says “We see the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory”(Glück, qtd. in Karr). Life is a reflection of our younger selves and what we learn throughout childhood. Parents need to realize how this idea affects their children as they grow into their identity, and the harm of shielding different parts of one's childhood, as the difficulties are what set the building blocks for adulthood. Adults try to fix their past insecurities and trauma they faced through their children by causing them to ignore aspects of their children’s identity…show more content… In the graphic novel Good Talk, Mira Jacob struggles with finding and understanding her identity. The negative comments by her family members about her skin started to shape the way she looked at herself, “For the rest of the trip, every time I looked at myself, I would imagine the lighter, happier, prettier me” (Jacob 38). Jacob’s struggles with her race all stem from when she was younger, overhearing her family members in India talking about her being a “darkie” before she thought she was just a normal Indian girl: “Coming back to New Mexico was almost a relief. In New Mexico, I wasn’t dark, I was just brown, my whole family was just brown” (Jacob 39). Jacob doesn’t understand the negativity of being darker skinned or form this insecurity until it was brought on to her but her family, probably because her family was taught being lighter skinned was prettier, creating this cycle of intergenerational trauma. Jacob didn’t gain this insecurity and didn’t always feel uncomfortable about race; it was her upbringing that made her believe her differences were what made her…show more content… In Good Talk, Mira Jacob struggles to talk about race with her son because of the trauma she faced growing up with her skin color. She attempts to avoid the conversation of race with her son, “‘What did Michael Jackson like better, brown or white?’ ‘Um. He liked both.’ ‘But what did he like better?’ ‘Neither’ ‘But What?’ ‘Can we stop talking about this?’” (Jacob 6). Race is an important topic, one may find it difficult to understand oneself and even more so, explain to others. Jacob was more deprived of these conversations being shaped in a positive light when she was younger, causing her explanations to her son to be hesitant, or even incapable of being formed correctly. Additionally, her son is incapable of understanding why his curiosity is being rejected and ignored, leaving him questioning whether his race is a shameful part of his identity. Jacob lacked positive conversations about skin color and race when she was younger, which scared her and wrecked her
