What does Zitkala-Sa mean by 'eating by formula'?

Question

Q. What does Zitkala-Sa mean by 'eating by formula'?

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2023Subjective· 2mImportance★★★★★

🔒 Locked · start free trial →

You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Concept understanding — Cultural Identity Conflict

Let’s start with something you already know. Think about the last time you were with your school friends, and then later that evening you were with your grandparents. The way you spoke, the jokes you made, the topics you brought up — they probably shifted. Not because you were pretending, but because each group expects a slightly different version of you. Now imagine that gap widening, not just between generations but between entire worlds of values, language, religion, and lifestyle. That tension — the pull between two different sets of cultural expectations — is what we call cultural identity conflict.

The everyday intuition

You have a self — a sense of who you are. That self is partly built from the culture you grew up in: the festivals you celebrate, the food you eat, the way elders are addressed, the ideas about success and family. But what happens when you move into a new environment — a college in a big city, a job in a different state, or even just exposure to global media — that tells you a different story about how to live? Suddenly, the old rules don’t fit perfectly, and the new rules feel foreign. You are caught in the middle. That is the seed of cultural identity conflict.

The precise meaning

In sociology and psychology, cultural identity conflict refers to the psychological stress or inner struggle that arises when a person’s core cultural identity is challenged, contradicted, or forced to coexist with another cultural framework. It is not simply “not knowing which culture to follow.” It is the experience of feeling that you must choose — or that you belong fully to neither.

This conflict can be:

Internal — you feel torn between your family’s traditional values and your own evolving beliefs.
External — you face pressure from two different groups (e.g., parents vs. peers) who each expect you to conform to their norms.
Situational — it flares up in specific settings, like a religious ceremony where you feel out of place, or a workplace where your communication style is seen as “too indirect.”

Important

Cultural identity conflict is not a sign of weakness or confusion. It is a natural outcome of living in a diverse, globalised world. The NCERT textbook (Class 12 Sociology, Social Change and Development in India) discusses this under the theme of globalisation and identity, noting that exposure to multiple cultures often leads to a re-examination of one’s own identity — and sometimes to a sense of fragmentation.

Why it matters for your exams and your life

For a commerce or humanities student, this concept is directly relevant to topics like:

Globalisation and its impact on local cultures — how multinational brands, media, and migration create hybrid identities but also conflict.
Social change and stratification — how caste, class, and region interact with modern aspirations.
Individual and society — the tension between personal choice and collective expectation.

In real life, cultural identity conflict shows up in many forms:

A first-generation college student who feels they no longer “fit in” at home.
A woman in a corporate job who is told to be assertive at work but modest at family gatherings. …

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

The phrase 'eating by formula' refers to the rigid, unnatural, and humiliating process of being forced to follow strict Anglo-American table manners at the Carlisle Indian School — a symbol of cultural erasure.

The concept here is cultural assimilation through forced conformity. Zitkala-Sa (a Native American writer) was sent to a boarding school designed to "civilize" Indigenous children. The school stripped away every aspect of their native identity — language, dress, hair, and even the way they ate. 'Eating by formula' captures the absurdity and violence of this process: something as natural as eating was turned into a mechanical, rule-bound performance.

Let’s break down what she means, step by step.

The literal meaning: At the school, meals were not about nourishment or enjoyment. Instead, students had to follow a strict set of rules — sit a certain way, hold utensils in a prescribed manner, chew and swallow in a specific order. Zitkala-Sa calls this 'eating by formula' because it felt like following a mathematical or chemical recipe, not like a human activity.
The emotional experience: She describes the terror of not knowing which fork to use, the fear of making a mistake and being punished. The 'formula' was a trap — if you followed it wrong, you were shamed; if you followed it right, you were still performing a lie. The natural pleasure of eating was replaced by anxiety and self-consciousness.
The deeper cultural violence: The 'formula' was not just about table manners. It was a deliberate tool to destroy her native identity. In her culture, eating was communal, tied to the land and traditions. The school’s formula forced her to adopt the ways of the colonizer, making her feel like a puppet. She writes that she felt "as if I were in a cage" — the formula was the bars. …

Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →

Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2026Set 1/1/11 mark
$Q. Why did Zitkala-Sa yearn to be with her mother in her moment of anguish? (Memories of Childhood)$
›Reveal solutionSolution

Zitkala-Sa yearned for her mother because she was the only person who could understand the depth of her cultural humiliation and loss — a shared pain rooted in their Native American identity that no one at the missionary school could comprehend.

When Zitkala-Sa's long hair was forcibly cut at the Carlisle Indian School, she experienced something far deeper than a simple haircut. In her Native American culture, shingled hair carried the weight of mourning, cowardice, or the mark of a defeated warrior. The missionaries saw it as a hygiene measure or a step toward "civilization," but for an eight-year-old girl who had grown up on the Yankton reservation, it was an assault on everything she understood herself to be.

Her mother was the only person in the world who would truly understand this violation. Back home, her mother represented continuity with tradition, with the stories and customs that gave meaning to daily life. She was the keeper of their cultural memory, the one who had taught Zitkala-Sa what it meant to be Nakota. When the white teachers dragged her from under the bed and sheared her hair despite her desperate resistance, they weren't just cutting strands — they were severing her connection to her people's way of life.

Note

The text emphasizes that Zitkala-Sa felt like "one of many little animals driven by a herder" — stripped of individual identity and cultural dignity, reduced to an object to be processed and reformed.

The anguish she felt was isolating in the extreme. She was surrounded by people who saw her tears as childish stubbornness, who believed they were doing her a favor by erasing her "savage" ways. Her mother, by contrast, would have recognized the cut hair for what it truly was: a symbolic scalping, a public shaming, a forced transformation that no child should endure. The yearning wasn't just for comfort — it was for witness, for someone who could validate that her grief was real and justified. …
Start your 14-day free trial to see the full solution →
CBSE 2023Set 1/1/11 markMCQ
$Q. Who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to?$
(a) Appa; Bama
(b) Bama; Amma
(c) Bama; The Zamindar
(d) Annan; Bama (Memories of Childhood)
›Reveal solutionSolution

The speaker is Annan (Bama's elder brother), and he is speaking to Bama, explaining the realities of caste discrimination.

The chapter "Memories of Childhood" presents two powerful autobiographical accounts that delve into the cultural identity conflicts faced by marginalized communities. Through the experiences of Zitkala-Sa, a Native American woman, and Bama, a Dalit writer from India, we witness the profound impact of discrimination and the struggle to maintain dignity and self-respect in the face of oppressive systems. Both narratives highlight how dominant cultures attempt to strip away the unique identities of minority groups, leading to internal and external conflicts.

In Bama's excerpt, "We Too Are Human Beings," she recounts her childhood experiences with untouchability and caste discrimination. One particular incident stands out vividly: Bama, a young schoolgirl, observes an elder from her community carrying a packet of food (vadais) for the landlord. What initially strikes her as amusing – the elder holding the packet by a string, without letting it touch his body – soon becomes a source of confusion and then profound understanding, thanks to her elder brother.

It is in this context that the crucial conversation takes place. Bama, innocent and unaware of the deep-seated caste prejudices, finds the elder's manner of carrying the food quite funny. She describes how he held the packet by the string, making it swing like a pendulum, and then offered it to the landlord without touching him. When she narrates this incident to her elder brother, Annan, he explains the humiliating reality behind it.

Note

Annan's explanation is a pivotal moment in Bama's awakening to the harsh realities of her caste and the injustices prevalent in society. It shifts her perspective from innocent amusement to a deep understanding of systemic oppression.

Annan, who is more experienced and aware of the social dynamics, clarifies to Bama that the elder was not being funny but was forced to act that way due to the practice of untouchability. People from their community were considered "untouchable" and were not allowed to touch members of the upper castes or their belongings, including food. This act of carrying food by a string was a symbol of their forced subservience and the dehumanizing nature of the caste system. …
Start your 14-day free trial to see the full solution →

Q.What does Zitkala-Sa mean by 'eating by formula'?

🎓Unlock everything free for 14 days

Unlock everything free for 14 days