The study of literary narratives often reveals the hopes and dreams of a society. Writers are often motivated to write by the strong desire to share their inner most feelings. In this half of the semester, the class has focused on three types of narrative: the immigrant narrative, the minority narrative, and the narrative of people that overlap the immigrant and minority narratives due to the “color code.”

Immigrants come to America voluntarily hoping to find opportunities denied them in the Old World. Crevecoeur’s Notes from an American Farmer (1782), describes how immigrants tend to view America: “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world...The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.” This description encourages people to leave behind the Old World and become a completely new person. This commonly accepted view of America is challenged by many of the narratives we have read.

The immigrant narrative usually illustrates one or more of the following stages: the immigrant leaves the Old World; arrives in the New World; experience shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination; assimilate to dominant culture and lose ethnic identity; followed by a rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity. 

 Nicholasa Mohr’s, “The English Lesson,” focuses on the importance of learning the language. The character of Diego Torres also illustrates that some people come here simply to work, not to assimilate, he says, “I no give up my country, Santo Domingo, for nothing…I come here, pero I cannot help. I got no work at home. There, is political, the United States control most the industry which is sugar and tourismo…Someday we gonna run our own country and be jobs for everybody. My reasons to be here is to make money, man, and go back home buy my house and property. I no be American citizen, no way. I’m Dominican and proud! That’s all I got to say” (25). Nevertheless, the story shows how the goal of each student may be different, and yet, the assimilation of the language unites them all, in one common goal. Unfortunately, not all of the immigrant experiences end as hopefully as “The English Lesson.”

 Sui Sin Far’s, “In the Land of the Free” tells the sad story of parents whose baby is taken away, upon arrival. Moreover, the parents quickly learn that everything has a price, in America. The importance of money to survive is illustrated by the lawyer who refuses to work for free. The story portrays how quickly the “American Dream” can turn into an “American Nightmare.”

The minority narratives also illustrate variations in the “American Nightmare,” because the African-Americans did not come voluntarily and the Native Americans were pushed off their land. This past history causes minorities to view the American experience differently from the immigrant narrative.

One example of minority resistance to assimilation is illustrated in “The Man to Send Rain Clouds,” by Leslie Marmon Silko, when the grandfather dies they call on the Priest to sprinkle water on him, “so he won’t be thirsty” (207). The Priest, who represents the dominant culture, does not understand why they didn’t contact him sooner, to give the grandfather a proper Christian burial. Obviously the grandchildren’s concern centered on whether or not the rains would come. 

Another example of minority resistance is illustrated in “No Name in the Street,” by James Baldwin when he expresses his feelings of guilt and betrayal to his community because of his economic success. He says, “I had betrayed the people who had produced me” (286). He feels guilty because to rise above poverty you have to assimilate into the dominant culture and for the minorities this means siding with the oppressors.

We also read stories about the immigrant and minority narratives that overlap. This overlap occurs with the Mexican-American, Hispanic, and Afro-Caribbean narratives. These immigrants are in-between because of the close proximity to the Old World. Often, they travel back and forth and this slows down the assimilation process. “Barbie-Q,” by Sandra Cisneros illustrates how the assimilation of some immigrants is never complete. In this story the girl doesn’t mind that her Barbie smells like smoke or that it “has a left foot that’s melted a little” (253). Furthermore, as long as the doll is well dressed and you don’t “lift her dress…who’s to know” (253). The girl is content with and is willing to settle for the joy of just having a Barbie.

Another example of the in-between immigrant and minority narrative is the poem “From an Island You Cannot Name,” by Martin Espada. In this poem the father unequivocally rejects the minority status by shouting, “I’m not! Take it off” (139)! He finds himself in a difficult situation because he is trying to achieve the “American Dream,” and aligning himself with the minority status is going to slow down his progress. His daughter on the other hand is really confused about her identity. The dominant culture will not allow her full assimilation, because of her race. She is in an in-between stage, because she has no ties to the Old World, she cannot even name the island, however, society will not allow her to be fully assimilated in the New World.

The reality is that the history of slavery and the biological fact of race can divert an individual’s own freely-chosen path as an immigrant. Moreover, they feel pressure from whites and blacks and other to conform to the minority tradition. Their physical appearance mixes the Afro-Caribbean immigrant story with the minority story.

In conclusion, the goal of these narratives is to provide the reader with provocative stories that will bring about a healthy debate.  Furthermore, these stories reflect the conflicted emotions of many immigrants who find themselves torn between the desires of the individual for self reliance versus the societal expectations of the Old World. The new Americans do not fit any of the previous molds and so they are creating through these narratives new identities that reflect them.

Someone in a previous class made the following observation about American culture:

A kaleidoscope is “multifaceted,” which infers that American culture continues to change and evolve. The transition of the immigrant from old world to new world is the foundation of society. However, the dominant white culture represents only one of the many colors of American culture as seen through a “Kaleidoscope.” (JS Midterm 2003).

This comment resonated with me because I believe that change is inevitable. Just like the weather changes daily, whether we want it to or not, so do people. The primary motivator for assimilation into the mainstream dominant culture is the desire for economic upward mobility. We often find that the immigrants do not want to destroy the system that is in place, they want a way into it. Minorities on the other hand are much more conflicted on this point because of gross injustices, in the past. Nevertheless, the economic impact of America’s diverse society is not lost on the dominant culture for they are marketing to these cultures more than ever before. Minorities on the other hand will regardless of the past, have to decide whether to assimilate or continue to resist the dominant culture. Their economic future depends on that decision.

[Rita]