Samuel Mathis

22 June 2010

Evolving Tales: The Changing Narratives of American Immigrants

            Part of our Immigrant Literature class has been spent discussing the common factors in most immigrant narratives.  The various stages of an immigrant story have been identified and examined to determine what aspects are essential for a narrative to be considered an immigrant tale.  However, the original immigration of the dominant culture has only been briefly discussed, and the pattern of the immigrant tale does not apply perfectly to these stories.  These original immigrants define what it initially meant to come to America, overcome adversity, and achieve “The American Dream” of property, success, and freedom.  Upon achieving their version of “The American Dream,” the dominant culture began to show opposition against any immigrants who were not from their original immigrant countries – mostly Western Europe.  Instead of overcoming adversities associated with nature or common life experiences like the first wave of European immigrants, all subsequent waves of immigrants have had to overcome the opposition of the dominant culture in addition to the natural hardships of life as an immigrant.  This extra antagonism against immigrants from areas other than Western Europe has changed what is now considered the standard structure and pattern of an immigrant narrative.

            In order to understand how the immigrant narrative has changed for those from countries other than Western Europe, the original immigrant story must be analyzed for the traits and qualities that first defined what it meant to be an immigrant, and how one achieved “The American Dream.”  The original immigrant story is best shown in William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation and the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.  In Bradford’s rendition of the immigration from England to Holland and finally to America, the Pilgrims were twice displaced in both England and Holland.  Upon their first immigration from England to Holland, the Pilgrims were pressed into assimilating into the culture of the surrounding Hollanders, and they believed that “their posterity would be in danger to degenerate and be corrupted” (Bradford 4.4).  Not desiring assimilation into the Dutch culture, the Pilgrims set off for America with the intent to maintain their purity and way of life.  For the purpose of maintaining their purity, the Pilgrims did not assimilate into the Native American culture when they arrived in America, but rather forced the natives to conform to their beliefs.  Using the idea that they were called “for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world,” the Pilgrims established their own definition of the immigrant tale and created the basis of “The American Dream” that would be perpetuated by future generations and immigrants (Bradford 4.5).

            The Pilgrim’s story follows the pattern of the immigrant narrative in most respects except for two areas, their hardships and assimilation.  Their resistance to assimilation has been discussed, but their hardships were different than the normal hardships we see in other immigrant narratives.  The Pilgrims faced hardships brought on by nature and inexperience.  These hardships were unlike the normal immigration story of hardship and overcoming in that many of the Pilgrims died their first year.  Bradford relates:

that which was most sad and lamentable was, that in two or three months time, half of their company died, especially in January and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting houses and other comforts; being infected with the scurvy and other diseases, which this long voyage and their inaccomodate [sic.] condition had brought upon them; so as there died sometimes two or three a day, in the foresaid time; that of 100-odd persons, scarce 50 remained (11.4).

It was only through the help of the Native Americans that lived close by that the Pilgrims were able to survive that winter and continue living.  Nature was the opposing force against them in contrast to other individuals as seen in future immigrant texts.  However, like many other texts, the Pilgrims found the strength to overcome their adversity after help came from the dominant culture (Native Americans at that time).

            Another example of the different hardships that the dominant culture had to go through can be seen in the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.  In his life, Carnegie’s family did not suffer problems because of a dominant culture that rejected them, but rather, they found themselves at the mercy of the industrial revolution.  It was Carnegie’s father’s reluctance to switch to the mechanical looms that brought about his low fortune and sent them to America.  Even in America, the advancement of technology kept his father from succeeding, yet Carnegie himself was offered opportunity after opportunity from the dominant culture because of his performance in previous jobs and his work ethic.  Carnegie also had an advantage over other immigrants in that he was already assimilated into the dominant culture’s rules and processes of how to achieve what he wanted.  In Chapter Four of his autobiography, Carnegie writes of how his “first communication to the press was a note… urging that we should not be excluded; that although we did not now work with our hands, some of us had done so, and that we were really working boys. Dear Colonel Anderson promptly enlarged the classification. So my first appearance as a public writer was a success” (45-46).  Carnegie used the system of communication and public discourse to his advantage.  The only reason he was able to do so was because he first had a mastery of the dominant culture’s language, and understood that creating a discourse in the local paper was how to achieve his desires.  Because of his background, Carnegie was able to easily assimilate into the American society and did not suffer from the rejections of the dominant culture.  By overcoming this natural resistance against himself and his family, Carnegie was able to achieve his version of “The American Dream” and is a true example of the “rags to riches” story that so many immigrants desired.

            To contrast the Pilgrims and pre-assimilated immigrants’ integration and achievement of “The American Dream,” immigrants that are not part of the dominant immigration areas find themselves not only dealing with the problems and resistance associated with everyday life but also a dominant culture that refuses to be influenced, thus forcing immigrants to assimilate in order to achieve their desires.  One example of the dominant culture taking advantage of and resisting the immigrant culture is seen in Sui Sin Far’s “In The Land of The Free.”  When Hom Hing and Lae Choo’s child is taken, they are forced to enlist the help of an American lawyer who takes all their money over a period of months to get them permission to take back their child.  The lawyer did have some sentimental qualms against accepting the family’s jewelry for his services, but it was not enough to stop him from “seiz[ing] the jewels, thrust[ing] them into his coat pocket, and walk[ing] rapidly away from the store” (Far 10).  This family was exploited by the dominant culture because they did not have the proper connections and were not fully assimilated into the culture.  However, by giving in to the demands of the government through paying the lawyer, Lae Choo and Hom Hing were able to get their Little One back and begin working towards achieving their prosperity in America.

            The most difficult aspect of immigrant narratives is how to maintain their culture while assimilating into a group that does not desire them there.  In Tahira Naqvi’s “Thank God for the Jews,” Fatima is faced with the dilemma of preparing a meal according to the law of the quran, yet there is not a store nearby that sells the proper halal meat.  Fatima and Ali are comfortably assimilated into the American culture by this time, but this peace changes when she is forced to prepare a meal for her aunt the proper way.  She tries to find a way to revert back to the customs of the country she left while stuck in an area that does not promote her customs and beliefs.  The only halal meat around is in Queens, and she does not have the time or resources to go that far for the meat.  “Thank God for the Jews” is an excellent portrayal of how the dominant culture has resisted Fatima’s desire to be true to her original culture.  However, Fatima is provided a means of escape in the kosher meat of the Jews.  Her friend Samina explains that “all the meat’s prepared just like ours. They recite God’s name before slaughtering the animal and bleed the animal afterwards” (Naqvi 235).  The Jews, who were considered the model minority at this time, offered Fatima a means of maintaining her assimilated aspects of life while still providing for the customs and rituals of the old culture.

            Unfortunately, not every immigrant group is as fortunate as Lae Choo and Fatima in their opportunity to assimilate into the dominant society.  Anzia Yezierska’s “Soap and Water” as well as Chitra Divakaruni’s “Restroom” provide excellent examples of the immigrant who is completely rejected by the dominant society.  In “Soap and Water,” Miss Whiteside criticizes the narrator for her unkempt appearance, yet the reader understands that the narrator cannot afford to buy nicer clothes since she is denied jobs that will pay well enough because of her appearance.  While the narrator does have a positive outlook at the end of her story, there is no proof that she will actually succeed because of one person’s acceptance and caring.  In “Restroom,” the husband is attacked in his store and sent to the hospital.  While this can be construed as a normal experience, there is the hint of rejection implicit in the fact that this man was attacked and robbed by the people in his community.  The robbery is a sign of rejection by the dominant community where his shop is located.  While the poem ends on a positive note that the husband is alright, there is no guarantee that he will not be robbed again.

            Perhaps the greatest showing of outright rejection by the dominant culture is seen in “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs” by Chitra Divakaruni.  Jayanti comes to America under the impression that all will be well and even has daydreams about a candlelight dinner with a red headed professor that asks her to marry him (Divakaruni 76).  However, this dream is shattered as Jayanti and her aunt are insulted and assaulted by four blonde haired boys that call them “Nigger” and begin throwing snowballs at them (80).  This attack by these children is a direct rejection from the dominant society, and Jayanti understands it as such.  She is outraged to be referred to as a minority and would have responded back in violence to the boys had her aunt not stopped her.  The reader also learns of Jayanti’s uncle’s shop being targeted and attacked, and the reader can only infer it is because of how dark his skin is.  Unfortunately for Jayanti, she learns that it is painful not being white, however, when she goes outside and looks down at her hands, she relates that “I notice that the snow has covered my own hands so that they are no longer brown but white, white, white… I continue holding them out in front of me until they are completely covered. Until they do not hurt at all” (83).  Jayanti has come to the realization that the only way she will be without pain in America is if she is white, just like those little boys who threw the snow at her.

            It is unfortunate, but many immigrants undergo the same discrimination that those mentioned in this paper have.  These stories reflect the prejudice against those who come to the United States but are not part of the original immigrant culture or beliefs.  While I do not condone the actions of the dominant culture in these stories, I must question their motives.  Perhaps the fear of assimilation and corruption experienced by the Pilgrims has never been fully resolved in the subconscious minds of the dominant culture.  Just as the Pilgrims were afraid of assimilating into the Dutch or Native American culture, they are also fearful of allowing new immigrant groups to change the way that America and “The American Dream” is understood today.  By perpetuating the ideals that make up the original “American Dream,” the dominant culture is able to accept and reject any outside influences that could possibly change the American culture.  Whether this is for the best or not, I cannot say.  However, I do believe that the discrimination against immigrant groups will only be solved if the dominant culture will open its mind and heart to accept these cultures as they are and not force them to fit the mold of the original immigrant culture.  In my life, I have seen this change occurring, but there is still ways to go before it will be complete.

The Partial Assimilation:

Minority and Immigrant Difference of Participation with the Dominant Culture

            It can be argued that minority and immigrant groups are vastly different, yet they do share one common trait.  Both minorities and immigrants must interact and participate with the dominant culture to some extent.  However, the type and extent of this participation varies greatly among the two groups.  While immigrants attempt to assimilate into the dominant culture in order to be accepted, minorities are usually forced into assimilation and work to maintain some aspect of their former culture.  This difference in reaction to the dominant culture is attributed to the fact that immigrants desire to come to America and be a part of “The American Dream,” but minorities do not share this same desire.  African Americans were brought here against their will and forced into slavery.  Native Americans were not forced to come to America, but they were forced to migrate as the number of original immigrants increased in size.  This essay will inspect the difference in response and assimilation to the dominant society between minority and immigrant cultures as well as show the fear immigrants have of being perceived as part of the minority group.

            Although they did not desire to assimilate or even come to America, African American’s are an excellent example of a minority group that assimilated to a degree in order to achieve their desired independence from the dominant society.  Stories such as Equiano and Fredrick Douglass show how African Americans were forced to come to America and assimilate.  Equiano tells of his journey to America and how he was given various English names such as “Jacob” or “Michael” (3.4).  Once he arrived in America, Equiano met with a young girl and her mother who “taught me everything in the same manner as she did her own child,” and in this fashion, Equiano assimilated into the dominant culture through his language and learning (3.19). Equiano admits that “I had the stronger desire to resemble them; to imbibe their spirit, and imitate their manners; I therefore embraced every occasion of improvement” (4). Equiano shows how the minority attempted to emulate the dominant culture, but like the immigrant culture is often rejected.

            In contrast to Equiano, who worked to be seen as part of the dominant society, Frederick  Douglass worked to achieve his freedom and to be separate from the dominant society of the South where he was born a slave.  Like many immigrants, Douglass faced opposition to his becoming like the dominant culture.  He desired to learn how to read and write, but his masters were afraid that by learning, he would become smart enough to leave them.  Fortunately for Douglass, he was able to learn how to read and write and through that learning gained his freedom.  Upon gaining his freedom and rising to the level of a freeman in the dominant society, Douglass did not become like the dominant culture, but instead worked to free himself and his people from their oppression.  Just as we heard from Darryl’s reading of Douglass’s speech, Douglass did not believe that slavery was in any way acceptable and constantly spoke against the oppression of the minority by the dominant culture.  He knew that freedom could never be achieved unless all men were free and given the opportunity to work for their dream.

            The desire of minority groups to partially assimilate into the dominant culture yet still maintain a sense of separateness is still seen today.  Patricia Smith’s “Blonde White Woman” shows how even today, African American’s are constantly barraged with images and ideas that they must assimilate into the dominant culture in order to be accepted.  She flips through her Ebony to see “reams of straightened hair/ and bleaches for the skin” constantly implying that African Americans need to look and act more like their Caucasian/ dominant culture counterparts (ln 4-5).  Although she is constantly barraged by these images, the speaker, who originally desired to look like the blonde white girls of her youth, soon comes to recognize and desire her color because it differentiates her from the dominant culture.  Even as she “shake[s] the snow from my short black hair,” she can feel the dominant society around her “demanding that I explain/ my treachery” (ll 59-62).  The narrator’s acceptance of what makes her different from the dominant society is what causes her separation from it. 

            The immigrant’s fear of being perceived as a minority is best shown in Mei Mei Evans’s short story “Gussuk.”  In “Gussuk,” Lucy is perceived as one of the Eskimos she is working for as a nurse.  Lucy is a Chinese-American, but does not find it difficult to become a part of the Eskimo culture.  She experiences a double assimilation into the Eskimo culture while still attempting to be part of the dominant, white culture.  Everything seems to be going well until the Eskimos have their festival and show just how different from the dominant culture they are.  On the Fourth of July, the Eskimos celebrate the birth of America and the dominant culture, but they do so by going against all the principles of Puritan beliefs that founded this country.  The Eskimos get drunk and have a huge orgy amongst themselves, and it is then that Lucy realizes that “she was and always would be a gussuk. She did not belong here” (Evans 250).  After her time of work is completed, Lucy returns to Boston and her life as a member of the dominant society.  Lucy rejects the idea of being a minority and strives to forget her time with the Eskimos.  Unfortunately for her, she runs across a woman who reminds her of her time among the Eskimos and reiterates that she looks like Robert, the man she had relations with while working in the village.  This revelation shatters Lucy’s hope to be separate from the minority of Eskimos and as she denies again her connection to them “she began to cry” (251).  Lucy cries because she knows that she cannot escape her association with the Natives, and she will never be a part of the dominant society because, although she is an immigrant, she resembles the minority.

            The confusion of immigrants and minorities is something seen in various immigrant tales.  Despite their attempt to become like the dominant culture immigrants are often associated with a minority group that they resemble or may even be a part of.  This causes conflict not because of the confusion, but rather the associations that come with being identified as a minority.  The minority stories we have examined all showed a resistance to assimilation into the dominant culture.  This resistance is the last thing an immigrant would wish to do.  Immigrants desire to become a part of the dominant culture, because they believe that it is the only way to achieve their version of “The American Dream.”  Contrarily, the minority groups of America have realized that “The American Dream” is nothing but a fiction, but they can achieve their own dream if they resort to partial assimilation.  Just as Equiano, Douglass, Smith, and the Eskimos submitted to partial assimilation into the dominant culture, they maintained their otherness that allowed them to experience freedom in a way that immigrants are unable to.  By denying the power of the dominant culture, minority groups are able to form and achieve their own version of “The American Dream.”  This dream may not be what the original immigrants desired when they first came to America, but it is a dream that gives minorities freedom and hope in a better tomorrow.