Kimberly Dru Pritchard

An Overview of the Immigrant Narrative

            In a nation underwritten by an influx of immigrants, the United States has developed into a multi-cultural, multi-faceted land teeming with opportunity and freedom. As a result, the exploration and study of the immigrant in American society has fostered a great deal of interest in the world of academia. Its study has become a necessity in order to properly evaluate and determine the role of the immigrant in our society.  Furthermore, not only is it crucial to explore the plight of the voluntary immigrant, but we must also recognize those who entered our country under the circumstances of forced immigration. 

            Most of the readings for this seminar focus on the immigrant narrative as a model for identifying multicultural American literature.  Along with the immigrant narrative, we also worked our way through various minority narratives in order to substantiate not only the division between the two, immigrant and minority, but also to recognize the fact that often, the two models overlap to form a hybrid of sorts that contains elements of both models.  As a student of literature, the study of these narrative models allows a broader understanding of not only American culture and society but also of the ever-evolving and often elusive role of the immigrant in traditional American society. 

            Throughout the seminar, we focused on defining the immigrant narrative and establishing its place within the dominant culture.  In order to do so, the readings began with immigrant narratives such as Mohr’s “The English Lesson,” Malamud’s “The German Refugee,” and Jen’s “In the American Society” where we identified the immigrants’ stories and the hardships they bore upon entry into the United States.  For example, in “The German Refugee,” the once illustrious, brilliantly spoken professor is silenced because of his struggle to learn the new language. “He would attempt to say something and then stop, as though it could not possibly be said” (IA 16).  Not only has his voice been silenced, but his spirit as well.  He explains to his tutor, “I have lozt faith.  I do not- not longer possezz my former value of myself…For this and also whatever else I have lozt I thank the Nazis” (IA 16).  This poignant story relates the utter despair that some immigrants face upon entry into the “land of milk and honey.”  Although their movement into the United States is voluntary, it is inevitable that hardship in some form awaits their arrival. 

            In contrast to Malamud’s story, the students in Mohr’s “The English Lesson” experience hardship and disappointments when they immigrate to the United States as well, but their attitude and willingness to learn overshadow the dark resignation of Malamud’s German immigrant. The issues presented in “The English Lesson” help to further establish a model for the immigrant narrative. The story addresses the important matter of language acquisition as a key to assimilation. Yet, this very subject raises yet another problematic situation for the immigrant – the issue of gender.  In their homeland, gender identities “tend to be traditional, with divisions of power, labor and expression” (Obj. 5).  However, in the New World, these identifiers melt away as many immigrants tend to not only adopt the new language but embrace their individuality as a result. Such is the case with Lali.  She “had grown up in the sheltered environment of a large family” and came to America with her husband Rudi “expecting great changes in her life” (IA 29).  Unfortunately, her American Dream slips away as she is now “confined to a way of life she could not have imagined” (IA 29).  However, acquiring the language of the dominant culture enables Lali to re-establish the American Dream and her hopes for a bright future. Unlike the German refugee, Lali now envisions a better life – a life with a “promised future” (IA 34).

            Yet, even the life with a “promised future” comes with a price as our semester readings have shown.  As we established the pattern of the immigrant narrative, we not only identified the dynamics of the narrative but also came to understand the complicated road the immigrant treads on the journey of assimilation.  Not only is this journey a physical transformation of place, but it entails a substantial psychological transformation as well.  Obviously, the German professor, physically and psychologically silenced by his terrifying past and uncertain future, is unable to envision a future and, sadly, chooses death as his option.  Lali, imprisoned in a loveless, Old World marriage, also suffers the physical and psychological trauma associated with immigration when she begins to assert herself as an independent female rather than a servant wife and finds herself in conflict with her Old World values as well as her husband’s expectations. The psychological journey continues in Gish Jen’s “In the American Society.”  Although the females in the family have already moved through most if not all of the stages of the immigrant narrative, one of the main issues they face is the ignorance and resulting prejudice of the dominant culture toward the immigrant.

Mother and her two daughters believe that the ultimate symbol of acceptance into the dominant culture would be entry into the town’s country club. Seemingly, the only thing that impairs their entry is a letter of recommendation.  Mona innocently asks a friend’s mother to write a letter, but her insensitive retort, “I’d be honored and delighted to write you people a letter,” illustrates the isolation of the immigrant from the dominant culture.  Furthermore, soon after they make application, Mother learns that “some black family’s been waiting so long, they’re going to sue,” and “the club had entertained all the applications it could for the year” (IA 160, 167).  Undoubtedly, the gap between the immigrant and the dominant culture remains an enormous gulf unlikely to be bridged in the near future.  Furthermore, the dominant culture, in the form of the village idiot, Jeremy Brothers, derides and humiliates Father when the family attends Mrs. Lardner’s party. Jeremy Brothers assumes that because Father is Asian, he is one of Mrs. Lardner’s servants.  The man also assumes that Father can speak Chinese. Not only does the dominant culture come off looking like complete fools in this narrative, but the reader is also able to recognize the implied social contract that exists within the dominant culture.  Although Father continually refuses to buy into the social contract of the dominant culture by submitting to Jeremy’s derision, he actually implies acceptance by asserting his individual freedom as he flings the jacket into the pool and walks away from the masquerade with dignity.

Assimilation into the modern culture ultimately remains the choice of the individual immigrant.  However, through our study, we can conclude that voluntary immigration for the most part comes with that desire to assimilate into the dominant culture in order to secure a future based on the American Dream. Even the Pilgrims immigrate to the New World in search of a life free from the restraints of religious persecution…in other words…they “thought that if a better and easier place of living could be had, it would draw many and take away these discouragements” (Bradford 24).  In most cases this is true; however, that American Dream can quickly turn into the American Nightmare for the immigrant depending on the physical and psychological circumstances surrounding entry into the United States. During this seminar, we have experienced all phases of the immigrant narrative as well as the impact of immigration on the individual.  The plight of the immigrant remains the same today as it was in the past.  The experience brings heartache, trauma, and loss, but it also brings promise, opportunity, and advancement for those who choose to cross into the Promised Land.