LITR 4333: American Immigrant Literature

 Student Poetry Presentation 2003   

Reader: Anna Lisa Thomas

Respondent: Enrique Canales

Being Jewish in a Small Town

By Lyn Lifshin

(Unsettling America, p. 144-45)

Biographical Information:

Lyn Lifshin has written more than 100 books and edited 4 anthologies of women writers. Her poems have appeared in most poetry and literary magazines in the U.S.A., and her work has been included in virtually every major anthology of recent writing by women. She has given more than 700 readings across the U.S.A. and has also taught poetry and prose writing for many years at universities, colleges and high schools.

            Lifshin, started writing poems about the Holocaust and was asked to teach at a workshop In an interview with Poetry Life and Times Lyn states, “I worried that the people who took the workshop might know more than I did, might be survivors or children of survivors, so for a half a year I submerged myself in stories, films, non fiction books, poetry, art work about the Holocaust. I began dreaming about what I read and many of the poems in Blue Tattoo came from the intensity of being so surrounded, for such a long time, with so many stories.”

Literary Terms:

Persona:   Generally, the speaker in any first-person poem or narrative.  The term derives from the Latin word for “mask” and literally refers to that through which sound passes.  Although the persona often serves as the “voice” of the author, it nonetheless should not be confused with the author, for the persona may not accurately reflect the author’s personal opinions, feelings, or perspective on the subject.

Metaphor:  A figure of speech that associates two distinct things; the representation of one thing by another (Bedford, 260).   

Objectives:

The Immigrant Narrative

Stage 3: Shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination (immigrant experience here overlaps with or resembles the minority experience).  

            Lifshin uses the word “kike” at the beginning of the poem not only to shock and grab the reader’s attention but also to show the amount of discrimination that is felt by the only Jewish girl in town.  

Stage 4: Assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity (departs or differs from minority experiences)

            J.L from the spring 2002 class point’s out that Lifshin “makes references to not knowing any Hebrew, as if to say that she is too Jewish for the dominant culture, but not Jewish enough for the other Jews.  She tries to assimilate to the dominant culture by hiding her “Jewishness”.”  

Literary Objectives

2a. Narrator or viewpoint: Who writes the immigrant narrative?

• Second-generation

      The narrator is a second-generation Jew who is plagued by discrimination because she is different physically, with black braids and religiously, she can’t go to the Pilgrim Fellowship because she in not part of the dominant culture.

2c. Character by generation: to identify and question standard generational roles or identities:

• Second-generation as divided
• Third generation as “assimilated”

The young girl in the poem seems to be both divided and assimilated. She illustrate her cultural division in the sixth stanza, “will never know Hebrew”. Suggesting, that she does not feel like a traditional Jew. She is different from her family; she has experienced and been a participant of other cultures in the American Melting Pot. She wants to be like everyone else in America. She also hides the fact that she has a Christmas tree in her drawer. 

Cultural Objectives

1a. American Dream versus American Nightmare: To compare and contrast the immigrant narrative with the minority narrative.

            The young Jewish girl is experiencing both the American Dream and American Nightmare in this poem. She is living an American life as she is reminded of what happened in the past during the Holocaust, something she is aware of, that is painful, but something that she did not actually experience. Her American nightmare consists of not fitting in with the dominant culture. She wants to be the “Americanized ideal girl” with blond hair that the Cohen brothers seem to like.

Being Jewish in a Small Town

Someone writes kike on

the blackboard and the

“k’s” pull thru the

chalk    stick in my

plump pale thighs

even after the high

school burns down the

word is written in

the ashes    my under

pants elastic snaps

on Main St because

I can’t go to

Pilgrim Fellowship

I’m the one Jewish girl

In town but the 4

Cohen brothers

want blond hair

blowing from their

car    they don’t know

my black braids

smell of almond

I wear my clothes

loose so no one

dreams who I am

will never know

Hebrew    keep a

Christmas tree in

my drawer    in

the dark    my fingers

could be the menorah

that pulls you toward

honey in the snow

                        Lyn Lifshin

Interpretation:

            Lyn Lifshin’s poem is written in free verse with eight stanzas and four lines per stanza. As the title suggests it’s about a young Jewish girl in a small town dealing with issues of discrimination and assimilation. Discrimination begins the poem with the word “kike” written on the chalkboard it is a bitter reminder that the Jewish community has a past and is different. Lyn emphasizes the permanence in the second stanza, “even after the high school burns down the word is written in the ashes”. Another, example of this is in the third and fourth stanzas. “ I can’t go to Pilgrim Fellowship” implying that she is not “one of them”; she is not part of the dominant culture. 

            She realizes that she does not really fit in with either culture. As J.L. phrased it, “as if to say that she is too Jewish for the dominant culture, but not Jewish enough for the other Jews.  She tries to assimilate to the dominant culture by hiding her “Jewishness”.” The Jewish Cohen brothers have also snubbed her. They prefer to have blond hair blowing from their cars. She wants to be accepted, she want to be American, as she hides a Christmas tree in her drawer.

            The last stanza, “my fingers could be the menorah that pulls you toward honey in the snow” could imply that she is the menorah the light (guidance) and perhaps the Cohen brothers and others like them are missing how American she really is. “Honey in the snow” could be a metaphor for blond hair and pale skin.     

Discussion Questions:

1.)    Lyn Lifshin is a known poet for writing poetry with emotion, feeling and realistic characters. How did this poem emotionally effect you and did you feel the characters were real?

2.) In the third stanza what point or meaning do you think Lifshin is trying to convey?

3.) How did you interpret the last stanza and in particular the last line “honey in the snow”?

Links:

Interview with Lyn Lifshin

http://www.lynlifshin.com/rev_poetrylife.htm

Picture and biography of Lyn Lifshin

http://www.thevincentbrothersreview.org/lifshin.htm