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2019 Midterm1
(assignment) |
LITR 4340
American Immigrant Literature Model Assignments |
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Arielle Spiller
3/4/19
Opening My Eyes
Prior to my beginning this American
Immigrant Literature class, I had given little thought to the road traveled by
immigrants (and minorities) to get to America. This journey began, for some,
hundreds of years ago, but continues today for thousands of multi-cultural
families and individuals that end up in the United States. Whether their trek is
undertaken out of hope for a better future, necessity for family provision, or
unwillingness, it is a story with many chapters played out across the centuries
and unfolding today all across the country that I call home. Because of the
continued timeliness of this issue, I am rapidly coming to see the importance of
studying it, and growing to understand better what they are experiencing.
Immigrants, as defined for the purposes
of this class, are individuals who “voluntarily
choose to join the American culture, thereby signing the American
social contract of
assimilation to the
dominant culture's standards and values” (course site:
immigration). As we’ve discovered through our class discussions, the keyword is
indeed “voluntarily”. These are people and families who have made a choice, no
matter what their motivation. This could include people pursuing the American
Dream, like the main character in Anzia Yerzierska’s “Soap and Water.” She
describes her aspirations of college and an American education in paragraphs
28-29. “Inside the ruin of my thwarted life, the unlived visionary immigrant
hungered and thirsted for America. I had come a refugee from the Russian
pogroms, aflame with dreams of America . . . But for hundreds of years the
persecuted races all over the world were nurtured on hopes of America. . . I saw
all around me weary faces light up with thrilling tales of the far-off ‘golden
country.’”
By contrast, for the purposes of our
class, minorities are individuals who came into
“involuntary
contact with
dominant culture
([through] conquest, captivity, kidnapping, forced sexual contact).” They
typically are "voiceless & choiceless
in speaking for themselves” and routinely face “exploitation, isolation
and disadvantage” (course site:
minority). An interesting account of a minority narrative is “The Interesting
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano . . . the African”.
He illustrates in a terrifying way the reality that he faced as a kidnapped
African sold into the slave trade. “Commonly, some of us used to get up a tree
to look out for any assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us . . . ere
long it was my fate to be thus attacked and to be carried off, when none of the
grown people were nigh.” What unfolds following this is a horrifying account of
the cruelties and indignities faced by Equiano and his fellow victims of the
burgeoning European slave trade.
The key difference between a minority and an immigrant is willingness, but there
are other differences as well, such as the degree to which each aspires to
eventually assimilate. The story “The English Lesson” illustrated several of the
possible degrees of assimilation that can be attained by immigrants. The main
character, Lali, is similar to the majority of her fellow students who “had
migrated here in search of a better future” (IA p. 25). But there are other
characters with different goals and motivations. Diego Torres spurns the idea of
becoming a citizen. He immigrated only for work, yet his is still an immigrant
narrative because the choice was ultimately his. “My reasons to be here is to
make money . . . I no be American citizen, no way. I’m Dominican and proud!” (IA
p. 25). The Sicilian student, Aldo
Fabrizi, demonstrates nearly the highest stage of assimilation that is possible
when he says: “I wish I could be citizen to fight for this country. My whole
family is citizens – we all Americans and we love America!” (IA p. 26).
For minorities, assimilation is quite different. It is something met with
resistance and displeasure from some individuals, and something hoped for by
others. These extremes are seen clearly in Toni Cade Bambara’s story “The
Lesson.” The protagonist, Sylvia, deeply resents the perceived ‘white’
affectations of her teacher Miss Moore, and takes pride in behaving in ways that
seem culturally appropriate to her. In contrast, Miss Moore realizes the
importance of education and appearance in assimilating to the dominant culture,
and belabors the point with her students to the point that they almost do not
take her seriously. The poem “Blonde White Women” also reveals assimilation
resistance by an African American author. As a girl, she longed to belong with
the pretty pink white girls, “rub[bing] the [carnation pink] waxy stick / across
the back of my hand until the skin broke” (lines 24-25). However, during her
adolescence, she grew to treasure her dark skin: “I can find no color darker,
more beautiful, / than I am” (lines 54-55). With age came the understanding that
she need not fully assimilate, because her differences made her beautiful.
Acculturation is a term that can loosely be described as selective assimilation;
an immigrant or minority individual can absorb some qualities of the dominant
culture into their life while retaining the dignity and history or his or her
native culture. An excellent example of this phenomenon is seen in
Sandals in the Snow. This story
revolves around an immigrant family who belongs to a minority race; what a
fabulous juxtaposition to illustrate the balance of acculturation and
resistance. When the family moved in to their first suburban neighborhood, the
daughter Onyii remembered thinking: “When we drove up to it, I remember feeling
like . . . We’re really normal now! . . . This was the day I started feeling
normal” (IV p. 151). For the two educated parents, assimilation was the goal,
and they worked hard to attain it for their children.
However, there were some aspects of resistance as well, such as when Onyii’s
teacher helped her remove the traditional Nigerian plaits from her hair, and her
mother was angered. Rose did not understand why Onyii’s peers were being allowed
to tease and bully her, and why the teacher could not make them stop. She wanted
to maintain the hairstyle that Onyii had always had, until it became too
emotionally painful for her to do so. When Onyii broached the topic of their
“Nigerian smell” with her father, she expected resistance. She feared that her
father would misinterpret her intentions: “the request to wear deodorant could
easily be mistaken as one’s desire to be less Nigerian and more American” (IV p.
167). Luckily, this was one instance where her fears were ungrounded.
The Ihedigbo parents walked a fine line between assimilation and resistance;
this line could be construed as acculturation. “Apollos and Rose knew how
necessary it was to keep their children connected to their roots, especially
since their offspring lived most of their lives in a social context that
silently demanded their conformity in order to be accepted” (IV p. 159). Their
goal was to remain connected with the social and historical aspects of their
native cultures, while still conforming enough to the dominant culture that the
children did not stand out in a negative way.
The plight of immigrants standing in the unwelcoming, wintry air of Ellis Island
is one that many Americans are desensitized to. Because it seems like ancient
history, we do not always recognize that this is a journey, a transition, still
occurring today. Only in recent months have the tragic stories of families
ripped apart in customs been publicized. We, the privileged natural inhabitants
of the United States, collectively read and dismiss the news stories of Syrian
refugees struggling to reach safety as they flee terrorist rule. This is a
desensitization that I am ashamed of, and I look forward to continuing this
class, and retraining my eyes and my brain to recognize the horrific and
difficult circumstances that take place outside of my
American-citizen-safety-capsule.
