A narrative is a first hand account of a story, a journey to somewhere with hopes of something in return for the trouble.  Americans use narrative stories to create their identity, to teach what is not known, and even what they want to teach.  For immigrants coming to America though the term narrative is different.  It includes stories of trials and stipulations in order to finally succeed and move forward toward new chances and hopefully new opportunities.  These stories, as defined by objective one, “promote tolerance” and “celebrate difference.”  The most predominant way this is shown is through the use of different American ethnic groups’ stories of their paths to success.  Immigrants, on one hand, came voluntarily to the new land giving up their identities in order to take on new, assimilated points of view and essentially a better chance at a prosperous life.  Thus, it is assumed that all immigrants should, and usually do, willingly conform to the ideals of the “American Dream.”  Minorities on the other hand never chose anything for themselves, instead new ways of life were imposed on them, regardless of beliefs, and their identities were their own to keep, only if they were willing to put up a long, drawn out fight.  These two groups are very different, but in the same, they both fight for something they believe in—for one it’s their culture, the holding onto their past, and for the other it’s a new lease on life, new chances to prosper, new chances to embrace life. Those stuck in the middle, full of ambivalence, have their piece in literary history too, recording their want to fit in and their need to hold on to traditions as well. 

            Anzia Yezierska’s Soap and Water is an immigrant’s narrative about a young girl’s quest to reach the American Dream.  “Suddenly there came upon me an inspiration.  I can go to college! There I shall learn to express myself… to rejoice my thoughts.”  It was the narrator’s dream to finish college, but when she finally completed her daunting task she was met with a less than polite awakening from the “real world”, better known as her University’s Dean.  “She never looked into my eyes. She never perceived I had a soul.”  This showed the hardships and tribulations this character encountered just trying to succeed and make life better; to the Dean she was merely another foreigner, another incompetent immigrant.  “Unfit pay because...my appearance.”  While the American Dream seemed so glorious and rewarding the road there was bumpy and indecisive.  At the lowest point, the main character stated that, “I had not energy enough for suicide.”  This concept illustrates that while a better life was promised, it was not ever easy to attain. To add to that, Joseph Palpaleo’s American Dream: First Report also showed hardships through the path to assimilation and acceptance as an American-Immigrant only after the new concepts and ideas were embraced.  “First nobody liked us…” the narrator whined.  But as quickly as the family gave into the American way of life, the quicker the family became accepted and invited to the neighborhood “block party”.  “Who thought it would end this way…well-dressed citizens, devoted to disinfection!”  In giving up the family’s old ways they were now able to be accepted as Americans.  This attitude is embraced openly by immigrants.  The new land is giving these people the chance to assimilate economically and also educationally while still leaving room for their own identity through religion and customs.  Trying to hold onto the former ways of life did not help anyone advance in America, only upon changing and trying on assimilating did any good come of the move to the new town, which in turn gave a chance for the beginning of a new, prosperous life. 

            While immigrants lived through hardships and trials of doubt usually they succeeded in their ventures after finding the importance in assimilation.  For minorities, though, assimilation for the fact of success was out of the question, and even unheard of.  For this group of American’s their main goal remained to hang onto their past, their traditions, and their beliefs.  After all, none of these groups made the decision to come to the new America, the New American came barging in on them and their territory before they ever had a chance to go searching.  Minorities, unlike immigrants, wanted to keep their identities at any cost.  If this meant that they had to live in secluded pieces of land, that didn’t matter to them.  Minorities are proud of their culture and will do anything to keep from assimilating and losing their identities.  In James Baldwin’s No Name in the Street, the narrator’s feeling and attitudes about New-World Americans, is that “one can be scarcely deluded by Americans anymore…one was compelled to demand of Americans…a generosity, clarity, and nobility which they did not dream of demanding of themselves.”  To me, this statement shows the assimilation in giving respect to those who demand it while not agreeing fully that they are truly deserving of the characteristics.  An advantage of this kind of rebellious attitude is that while some ideas are embraced in order to maintain peace the minorities tend to take on a dialogue between two cultures, being careful not to let one culture engulf the other, but rather integrate the two, while favoring the native way of life over the imposed.  Minorities, unlike Immigrants, encounter discrimination and marginalization based on their refusal to completely assimilate with the dominant culture though regardless of how they act and accept change.  This is especially seen in the multi-culture inspired piece by Mei Mei Evans, Gussak.  Here, the Chinese-American nurse wants to, in some ways, do the things that include her new residence’s way of life, but underneath she questions their actions and judges their choices.  While the Eskimo’s drank and danced at the party, she joined, drinking more than she’d intended to, but left regretting her decision.  While the natives ate the rancid fish drenched in oil, yet while in the safety ness of her own trailer the narrator opted for food that she was accustomed to eating back home, not the Alaskan cuisine. 

            The third and final group in this list is the ambivalent population, those that combine both immigrant and minority identities together to form a single, cohesive description.  The first example is the Mexican Americans.  In Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory, the narrator remembers losing his ability to speak Spanish with confidence, but still retained his knowledge to understand the language.  “I felt that I had somehow committed a sin of betrayal by learning English.”  Here, this is just a prime example of wanting to fit in with the mass while still trying to keep part of the Mexican heritage instilled in him.  As objective six states, the “bilingualism of these “New Immigrants” may be the reason for contributing to and reflecting on emerging global identity, an identity where human beings are less defined of restricted by nationality.” The fact that he uses Spanish at home and English in public shows his assimilation in order to fit in with everyone else and also his ties to his native roots.  Another example of an ambivalent minority is that of Sandra Cisneros’ Barbie-Q.  In the story the young Mexican-American girls in the story want to play with Barbie, the blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyed doll modeled after the average American girl.  These dark eyed, brunette kids didn’t care that the doll did not look like them or represent them in any way, but everyone else had them and they wanted them too.  “So what if our Barbies smell like smoke when you hold them up to your nose, even after you wash and wash and wash them”  the girls justified themselves.  It did not matter they weren’t perfect, they were theirs, and they were close enough to the white kids’ toys that it didn’t matter that they were flawed, they were good enough for them, fire damage and all.

            To summarize these groups as a whole, there are three grouping for people in the Unites States.  These groups include immigrants, minorities, and the ambivalent population.  Each category has its own description and characteristics but these texts have helped me realize what their true meanings are and how they go about trying to live life to meet their own, specific needs and wants.  While forgetting the past and starting with fresh, clean slates immigrants are able to readily meet their fate, leaving all negative reasons they left in the first place, behind.  Minorities have to distinguish themselves from everyone else making their culture distinct and of high importance and be careful not to let their native traditions and beliefs get swept up by the dominant culture’s wrath.  Those ambivalent to the either or sides take on characteristics of both, and are essentially stuck in the middle of changing completely or abandoning the idea of staying the exact same.  The more quality texts, like these six aforementioned, that we read the better the understanding of the different, distinct groups the reader will be able to understand and eventually relate. 

[Mallory]