"Although none of these narratives were meant to be foundations for each other they still are tightly associated to one another."

The texts that we have discussed in this course can be compared and contrasted to the “standard immigrant narrative”.  Of Plymouth Plantation is American’s dominant culture narrative, which is comparable to the ancient Jews’ story in Exodus. Although the two stories took place centuries apart they are closely linked with each other. The Exodus story is a foundation of the Pilgrims story while the novel Bread Givers is based on the Exodus story. Although none of these narratives were meant to be foundations for each other they still are tightly associated to one another.

            The narrative of the Pilgrims and the story of the ancient Jews resemble each other in many ways.  Both groups were considered as God’s chosen people and were considered to have a special plan in life.  Moses explained, “For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord they God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all that are on the face of the earth” (Deut 7:6).  These chosen people undergo many obstacles and hardships to find the land they have been searching for which is their future homeland Canaan. This experience is mirrored in the Pilgrims journey to find the land of “milk and honey” in William Bradford’s novel. The Pilgrims are persecuted by the Church of England and are sent on a journey themselves to find a homeland just like the ancient Jews. “These two groups, however, represent a divergence from the Standard Immigrant Narrative.  While they both buy into the American Dream of America as God’s Promised Land and their status as a Chosen People, both Bradford’s Anglo and the Jewish immigrants of Bread Givers felt no need to conform to the standards of the peoples already living in the area.  Using God’s words from Leviticus as a standard, the Puritans set the standards to which all other immigrant groups would eventually conform, a deviation from the traditional immigrant narrative” [CR 2002]. Another comparison of the two migrating groups involves the idea of mixing of cultures or intermarriage.  In Deuteronomy 7: 1-6 it gives specific rules for the Jews to have no covenants or marriages with the Canaanites.   Of Plymouth Plantation states that the Pilgrims should not marry anyone unpeopled, savages, or wild beasts.  The two texts resemble each other in many ways and can be compared and contrasted to the “standard immigrant narrative”. 

            From the Exodus story we get a new type of immigration considered as the “traditional immigrant narrative”.  The Jewish-Americans no longer immigrant in large masses but rather come over in small groups or families. Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers is an example of the “traditional immigrant narrative”.  Sara is an ideal example of how an immigrant pursues the American Dream. Despite what her father, who still holds on to his old world cultures, tells her how to live her life.  Instead still respecting her father she took her life into her own hands and built a future for herself.

            Throughout the years and currently America has separated themselves from one another causing “vertical immigration”.  In “Hunting Mister Heartbreak: A Discovery of America” we see post-immigration changes in America in the 1970s and 80s.  We now see a new trend of migration such as above and below and “up here” versus “down there”. This story represents the commercializing of the American Dream.  “Up here, you could barely credit the existence of down there; just as down there you couldn’t conceive of the armored extravagance of up here” (355). America has now become divided between the “air people” who are the first world in their penthouses looking down on the “street people” who are manual laborers.  In Raban’s story he compared America to Macy’s illustrating how we have become so distant to other people. For example he explained that Diana’s only contact to the outside world was her television stating, “far below---a world away---was turmoil”(353). In Raban’s short story we see the new American migration, which is termed “vertical immigration.” [AB]