Both of these articles explained that being an American means looking to the future and living individually. This theme is particularly seen when Andrew Lam in “Who Will Light Incense When Mother Gone” concludes that he lives in a different world than his mother, as he states that “mine is a world of travel, writing and public speaking; his is a world of consulting the Vietnamese horoscope and consuming vegetarian food when the moon is full” (Lam 2013). The fact that he abandoned his tradition and culture did not bother him that much, since he knew that there was another way to keep his tradition and culture alive which was through his career as a writer, as he also kept saying "every write to me in the morning, put the memories into words... go further back, invoke the past" (Lam 2013), through these quotes, Lam had shown what it meant to be an American who had to look to the future despite what he had done in the past, since he himself did not feel guilty about his past and tried to move forward keeping his tradition and culture alive in his own unique way “The Son of America”, this theme is also shown when Samuel, returned home from the States United, he found that his parents and the entire village of Lentshin did not need his help, as he stated that he “wanted to help the village