Charles Surber
LITR 4333
Spring 2001

Readings in immigrant literature have shown assimilation into the fast paced American society through the eyes of those who know the problems from a first hand perspective. In the readings we get to see not only the problems with assimilation but also the attitudes these immigrants have towards them. But, as a reader, we are able to step outside their situation and see that it is these very attitudes towards the problems and new situations in assimilating to American society that actually shaped, and in a large way defined, the America we know today.

The immigrants who came over in mass and wrote the various writings in immigrant literature are the very heart of what American society is. At one point or another, a large percentage of what is thought of as American society also immigrated here. New immigrants often failed to realize that they were trying to fit into what was essentially just another immigrant society. In this way, the immigrants were the very Americans they imagined when they turned their eyes west and thought of the American dream. Simply by coming over here, they have became Americans and were now the ones living the dream and trying to make it in the "land of the free" and "home of the brave." They were Americans who didn’t really consider themselves Americans. Sure, they often called themselves Americans but their attitudes were that they were outsiders in the society. They wanted to be a part of the society while at the same time resisting assimilation. Their very resistance caused tensions and these tensions helped shape ideas and shaped America.

It seems that, when immigrants chose to move here, they didn’t fully analyze the situation. They saw their present predicament and how dimly their lot shone next to the dazzle of the American dream. But, many of them didn’t look past their own lives and into the lives of their children and grandchildren. Or if they did, they couldn’t fully grasped the differences there would be between the generations. It seems the first generation tries to bring the Old World with them to the New World and are caught off guard by how strongly the New World takes hold of their children and grandchildren and changes them. It is these changes the new generations went threw in response to the very things that caused problems for assimilation of the old generations that shaped the America we know today.

The first generation of immigrants seemed to want to come to the New World and live their Old World lives in it. This idea was doomed to fail but, by trying it, they forced many of their Old World ways into the new society.

The first generation overlooked the fact that they had these ideas and values because they were the values of the society they grew up in. The next generation would grow up in a very different society and would not hold all of these values while the third generation and on would hold them even less.

One of the ideas the first generations brought with them that had a large impact on the shape of American society was the extended family. Coming to America broke up the old extended families for most immigrants. A lot of people came here either alone, in pairs, or in small groups. This caused a situation in America where the individual was alone in an impassionate place and had to depend more upon himself and less upon family. This created a society that placed more stress upon individuality and less upon family. This became a problem with assimilation for many of the new immigrants who came over from societies that stressed extended family. But, in what has now become the American way, the new immigrants adapted and created a form of improvised extended family. They found others of their kind and came together. They spent their time together and often lived together one, two, or often many families in the same home. This created aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters out of people who were formally total strangers. This idea of an improvised extended family didn’t stop there but grew into entire areas of the cities and countryside occupied, for the most part, by a single ethnic group. This had a huge impact on the very idea of what a city was and how it took shape. It also gave us places like Harlem and Brooklyn or even the more informal but very distinct neighborhoods like China town. We see this idea of extended family and ethnic neighborhoods in stories like Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited and Like Mexicans. This spreading of the idea of extended families into ethnic neighborhoods did a lot to create places were the people could be comfortable living according to the ways they were used to while absorbing the ideas of the modern society at a little slower place. These places still shape cities today and serve the same purposes.

Ethnic neighborhoods were one response to a problem with assimilation that shaped the face of America. Another response to the same idea of extended family in American society went the other way. The improvised extended families worked for the first generations since that is what they grew up into and were used to. But their children and grandchildren grew up in a different society and we see that a lot of the literature we read are about how the author either has left them as in No Name In The Streets or are going to leave as in The Lesson. They grew up in the America that stressed the individual and their accomplishments. The new society led to the later generations having the freedom to leave home when they hit their rebellious late teens and twenties. This was a freedom their parents may not have had in the Old World. And it led to a society that stressed recreating yourself with each new generation. This new freedom to leave home added to the fact that many of the later generations lived with families that were working hard to find their place in America and often moving around the country in search of work or a home led to a restlessness in the younger generations. This created a mobile society were moving around became accepted and often the norm. This idea of the mobile society is still one we live with and enjoy today.

Another problem with assimilation that helped shape the America of today was that the first generation brought with them their Old World ideas of gender roles. These roles were deeply ingrained into the minds of both the men and women of their generation and were strongly applied in the New World. However, they ran into the same old problem. They were no longer living in the Old World societies and now the women had more freedoms than they would have before. Often, the later generations used their new freedoms to respond to the old gender roles by trying new things and new jobs. We see this idea of the old gender roles and the response to them in the book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The girl’s father Mr. Garcia still strongly believed in the roles and had definite ideas on how girls should behave. But the girls responded by taking advantage of their freedoms to move away from home, go to school, and get professional jobs. But, of course, they still held respect for their father and his ideas and when they came home they behaved like the little girls their father wanted.

They also responded to the old ideas of gender roles by getting jobs in male dominated professions as in Thank God For The Jews where not only was the authors husband a doctor but the author herself was a doctor. This story also wonderfully shows how many of the old ideas of gender roles took hold and stayed with us. After all, the whole story is about a woman stressing out about cooking dinner for her husband and relatives. The woman was doing the cooking and not the man, as is the old role for women. At the same time we see that she is not a very good cook and doesn’t really seem to have a lot of experience with it. This hints at the new ways where the woman’s role of cooking dinner is no longer stressed. Had the idea of an extended family really taken hold in America and the women stuck living in these large families with several generations in them then the gender roles probably would have been stressed more on the new generations by the older generations. But, since America is a roaming society where we cut ties with the older generations and start anew each generation, the old ways have slowly been left behind.

However, it is worth noting that the old ideas of gender roles did take strong hold and become ingrained into our minds and imagination. Even today we use them to show and define our ideas of respect and chivalry. We still show women respect by holding doors for and trying to protect them. While, at the same time, they continue to show us respect in a largely patrimonial society. And, at the same time, we continue to look to our women to define our morals and virtues.

Another response to a trouble with assimilation is racial tensions. Each race of immigrants brought with them a natural pride in themselves and a strong desire to preserve their ways. Along with this comes a natural distaste for the ways of others not like them and a tendency to shy away from new ideas they may not have understood do to their own ingrained ideas. But as a result of coming here the new generation got used to each other and worked hard to countermand and overthrow the old ideas of their parents and grandparents. This reaction to racial tensions has created a society were we can look around and see various races and cultures combined in many wonderful ways to create a new society.

An important example of this combination would be American music. The very music we listen to every day is strongly influenced by African American music. Jazz evolved from slave songs and became, one way or another, almost all forms of popular American music; rock, rap, dance, pop, and hip hop. Then, in turn, this music plays such a large part in shaping the self-image of the young generations today. Popular and Hip Hop music strongly defines the style of the youth in America. It gives them clothing style, jewelry style, and even hairstyles. It is even doing its part in changing the very language we talk. And, after all, language is how we define life.

Ideas like interracial marriage were not much of a problem in the Old World since they lived in societies that were more ethnically pure. In the Old World they spent all their time relating to people like themselves. But, they did away with that when they moved to America were the people are a "mixing pot" of the world’s races. Now they were faced with the problems of marrying their own kind in a world were the choices were limited. Thankfully, another response to moving to this diverse country is that their children and grandchildren and so on slowly began working with and meeting people from several different races. The idea that interracial marriage is a problem is slowly going away. Though, unfortunately, it is still a little taboo when it comes to black and whites, it has become totally acceptable for the many other races to marry. Today, it is very normal to see Orientals, Latinos, and Caucasians to date and marry each other. This interracial marrying is even changing the physical shape and look of the American people. When you look in movies and magazines most of the people we see and call handsome or beautiful are not products of one race or ethnicity but of a mixing of several.

When immigrants looked west and saw the promise of the wonderful New World they may not have fully thought out what the new world would cost them. The first generation came here often expecting to live their old lives in the New World and were caught off guard by all the problems this would cause in their assimilation. Their striving to keep the old ways has had a lasting impact on the face of America. And the generations to follow them didn’t always follow the old ways and their attitudes to the problems of assimilation also had lasting impacts on the American society. The America we live in today was shaped by attitudes.