Themes and Variations on the Immigrant Story

            The 35 texts from the first half of the course are rife with wonderful examples of the immigrant narrative and the minority experience. Each story paints a picture of life for an individual (such as Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water”), a community (Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, “Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited”), or for the effect that the community has on an individual (Gish Jen, “In the American Society”). Although no single text or poem can portray all of the complexities associated with being an immigrant or a minority in America, there are several recurring themes that help expose the effects of immigration and assimilation group and individual identities.

            The immigrant narrative is inseparable from the American Dream—the belief held by many that through hard work and determination, anyone could make a better life for oneself and one’s family. This dream is forged by the values needed to achieve it. “Soap and Water” epitomizes the general understanding of the immigrant work ethic: toiling away at a terrible job while being driven only by the hope that one day you will not have to do so much just to get so little.

            Although the immigrant narrative has infinite variations and stages, it is possible to extract the prevailing characteristics from the texts. First, one must leave the home country. This journey is described with great detail in Edwidge Danticat’s “Children of the Sea.” This is a fictional work, but no detail seems to be outside the realm of reality—or history. The narrator in Danticat’s piece talks about the journey to America and the feelings that the dangerous expidition created in him: the tumultuous and endless sea made him question if he was about to “drop off the face of the earth” (IA 99). The trip even turned him into a religious man: “…I am not very religious. Still I pray every night that we won’t hit a storm” (IA 100). Perhaps this conversion was the precursor to the changes that he would endure once, or if, he made it to America.

            Shock comes upon arrival to the new country. This shock can occur because of the stark differences between the old and new world and the cultural sacrifices that are required to fit in. Sui Sin Far’s “In the Land of the Free” tells the story of an immigrant couple who is forced to give up their son to a custom’s officer before they are allowed on board. Clearly their sacrifice was much bigger than having to trade their name in for one that sounds American. But the laws of the new country were more foreign than its language to the newcomers, and the parent’s shock was inseparable from the next stage of the immigrant stage: discrimination and exploitation. Lae Choo and Hom Hing had to deal with a lawyer who was more concerned with making money than with returning the child to his parents.

            Assimilation is the next step in the typical immigrant story. Education, ultimate tool in assimilation, is addressed in Nicholasa Mohr’s “The English Lesson.” Each student in the class had a story to tell and a reason to learn, but their goals were largely contingent upon their ability to communicate in English. William wanted to learn to speak and read English so he could get a better job and help his family. Mr. Fong wanted to improve his position in America and become a citizen—a very clear part of assimilation. Diego Torres, however, did not want to become a citizen since he considered this act an insult to his country. Diego wanted to exploit America by coming to the country, learning English, and then returning back home to make money. This reverse exploitation was done intentionally and with malice: Diego was returning the favor to a country that had exploited his people for decades. By learning English in a formal setting each student was going through a process of assimilation—no matter how resistant to the idea they might have been. Each person’s struggle to communicate reflects a salient characteristic in the immigrant story.

            The last step in the immigrant process is rediscovery and reassertion of identity. Gish Jen’s fictional “In the American Society” has a very bold example of an immigrant reasserting his identity. Ralph Chang did not want to go through the assimilation process in an attempt to fit in. His wife tells their children, “Your father doesn’t believe in joining the American society….He wants to have his own society. Ralph’s wife wanted him to fit in, so they went suit shopping (adopting the clothing style of the dominant culture is an important part of assimilation process). In a confrontational rejection of the identity that the majority culture had imposed on him, Ralph takes the shirt Jeremy tried to force on him and throws it into the pool—along with the coat his wife made him purchase. In this case, Ralph’s personal identity had nothing to do with wanting to wear traditional Chinese attire: Ralph just hated being told what to do.

            The different stages outlined above tell the story of the immigrant, while the minority narrative has its own components. But is there value in synthesizing the two? CR addresses this clearly in a 2002 midterm: “The combination of immigrant and minority ideas allows readers to more fully investigate multicultural literature and resist the urge to compartmentalize literature as fully immigrant or minority, but to see the value of both backgrounds as they combine to form the integrated text.” The objective that can be used to unite minority and immigrant literature is the discussion of the color code. This sensitive subject, which deals with the values associated with skin color, is addressed by many of the texts and poems in this course. This brief list shows how skin color is an issue for The next page is a list of textual examples that show how skin color is an important factor that defines what is beautiful, worthy, and important. The color code has a huge impact on identity and assimilation for minority and immigrant groups, their descendants, and all other “in-between” groups.

• In “Gussak,” Lucy deals with being a Chinese-American living in Alaska, where she is often seen as Eskimo.
• In “Barbie-Q,” the only colored dolls that the children have to play with are the ones that have been covered with soot.
• “How to Date a Browngirl…” is the most blatant example of the importance of the color code in relationships.
• The father in “Silent Dancing” could have “passed as European” but the children could not (VA 181). We also learn about the family of one of the characters: “The women on you father’s side of the family wrinkle early; it’s the price they pay for that fair skin” (VA 185).
•  James Baldwin cannot get a cab in “No Name in the Street” because he is black.
• In “Like Mexicans,” the grandmother sees two types/colors of people: Mexicans (like herself), and Okies (or everyone else).
•  Nellie Wong tells us in “When I was Growing Up” how she “longed to be white” (UA 57).
• “American Dream: First Report” is about the struggles of an immigrant family that “looked too short and dark” (88).
• The Cubans headed to America in “Children of the Sea” got a “charcoal layer of sunburn” that made them look more like Haitians than Cubans (IA 101).
• Patricia Smith’s poem discusses how “Blond White Women” warped Smith’s definition of beauty.

      The examples above show that the color code is not “black and white.” Similarly, the ambiguous distinctions between fiction and nonfiction invite the creation of a third category. The hybrids that fall into this category are not of the ubiquitous “fact laced with fiction” variety—as seen in Oprah’s recent infamous book club selection. The convergence of fiction and nonfiction is fiction told with such a compelling voice that the story must be real. The readings in this course encapsulate these three diverse forms of writing. Each form has several representatives: James Baldwin’s “No Name in the Street” plays the role of the personal narrative nonfiction dialogue. Meanwhile, “Don’t Explain” represents the traditional American fiction (although it is probably safe to assume that Gomez’s life experience shaped the characters and events in her work). Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson” seems to be the logical synthesis of the other two selections by offering a fictional story that, when read aloud, seems to be anything but “made up.”

      It is common (and appropriate) to contrast immigrant literature with minority literature by discussing the immigrant’s American Dream vs. the minority’s American Nightmare. Although this is another dichotomy that is not black and white, each side has distinct elements that are seen in the texts. The beginning of “America is in the Heart” epitomizes the dream narrative:  “My first sight of the approaching land was an exhilarating experience. Everything seemed native and promising to me. It was like coming home after a long voyage…” (VA 60). But sometimes the dream dies, as it did in “Going Home: Brooklyn Revisited.” “What is no longer certain is that anyone in Bensonhurst believes, any more, in the American Dream. The dreams of Bensonhurst’s Italian-Americans are blood-colored now; and the stink of fear is in the air” (VA 159). The nightmare felt in the first line of “The Woman Warrior”: “My American Life has been such a disappointment” (VA 195).

      Each text that has been covered in this class tells a story of the American experience. The multifaceted story is told by immigrants and minorities through narratives, fiction, and poetry. This essay was designed to show the similarities between the texts while accentuating how each story is unique. Since I’m out of time, I can only hope that it amounted to more than just a bunch of disjointed quotes that lead to an inconclusive ending…. [JC]