Elisabeth Scoggin

June 22, 2010

Essay 1

Describing and Analyzing the American Immigrant Narrative

          When reading American immigrant literature one of the main themes that readers come across is the “American Dream”. For this particular course, when talking about the “American Dream” it falls into the objective one category. Objective 1 also deals with the “dominant culture”.

Normally the “dominant culture” is not a group of people tend to think about. Often they get overlooked. The dominant culture is important because besides the Indians, they were the first ones to America. The Constitution is an example of a piece of literature that specifically speaks to the dominant culture. In fact, it is not even meant for the minorities. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States…..are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside”. Another reason to mention the dominant culture is because these are the people the immigrants try to assimilate to. Immigrants are not looking to assimilate to any minorities. They do not consider themselves close to the minorities. For example in Divakaruni’s Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs it states, “Can’t they see that I’m not black at all but an Indian girl of good family?” (A80). Also another example of not assimilating with minorities is in Bharati Mukherjee’s A Wife’s Story, “But my husband is absolutely sure he doesn’t want to see Harlem” (A65). It is obvious that the husband wants nothing to do with the type of people that come from Harlem. It is not just the fact that he does not want to see the place, he just does not want to be associated with it whatsoever.

Becoming a “model minority” could also have something to do with assimilating to the dominant culture. The model minority falls into Objective 2b. As of now, Asians are considered to be the model minority group. Just because the word “minority” is in there, this also applies to immigrants as well. From Nicholasa Mohr’s The English Lesson, “They had migrated here in search of a better future, were living with relatives and worked as unskilled laborers” (A25). This particular story is mainly about Puerto Ricans who in fact are not immigrants, but do fit the immigrant mold. Most immigrants come here for a better life and to provide better for their family. We do not see these people looking for trouble, in fact, they try to avoid trouble and stay out of harm’s way. Many come for a higher education. In Soap and Water, we see the narrator’s dream of a higher education. “I can go to college! There I shall learn to express myself, to voice my thoughts”.

Having grand thoughts of a higher education leads us into the discussion of the “American dream”. What is the American dream? Well, hard work is involved no doubt, but in the end it seems to pay off. People like to think of big houses with pools in their backyard and maybe a Porsche in their three car garage. Ok, well maybe this is not always how big the dream is, but for some, it may be. As for immigrants, the American dream is to live in the land of the free have liberty, rights as an individual and most importantly, the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. After describing the American dream, it almost sounds like the opening of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Some other examples of the American dream in other narratives are; In the Land of the Free, “There is where thy father is making a fortune for thee” (A3), Restroom, “How he saved for it,…Now it’s half his. A bad part of town, he wrote, but good money” and finally from Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs, “And now here I am. America, I think, and the word opens inside me like a folded paper flower placed in water, filling me until there is no room to breathe” (A77).

When reading American immigrant literature we see a type of pattern in their stories. We see their struggle to get to the Promised land, we see their fight and determination while they try to make their way in America, we always see the obstacles they come across and many times we see their achievements, or happy endings. This relates to objective 2c. What is perhaps the most interesting part about the immigrant narrative is their ability to cut out all the extra fluff and stick to the point. Many times they strip away details and feelings/emotions and focus on the core of their story. Some writers do it in only a matter of paragraphs and others do it through a few more pages. These readings are intense at times, but they always seem appealing to the reader and maintains the audience’s attention.

One thing to keep in mind as a reader is, how much of this is actually true? It is hard to decipher what is true and what is fabricated to help the story along. Some people find problems at the end of these stories because many end up with everything being solved and everyone happy. Of course not every immigrant has a happy ending. Many of these narratives seem to have the message of “If you work hard, you’ll be ok”. This is what would be considered the “moral sense” to these stories. All in all immigrant literature is important to learn about and interesting as well.

Essay 2

Comparing Minority Literature to Immigrant Literature

          As stated in objective 3a, Native Americans are not immigrants because there were already here. In fact, immigration was the “American nightmare” for them. While immigrants were trying to fulfill their “American dream”, they were invading and bringing over with them ill people. As for the other main minority group we read about, the African Americans, they were forced here and not allowed to even consider any “American dreams” of their own for years.

          All minorities have that important decision to either assimilate or resist. In Leslie Marmon Silko’s The Man to Send Rain Clouds, we see a generation that has resisted to assimilate and stuck to their Indian beliefs and traditions with burying their dead. “It’s ok, Father, we just want him to have plenty of water” (A208). Then on the other hand we see some type of assimilation from the Grandfather that passed away. “And pair of stiff new Levi’s” (A206). The reader can see that there is some type of assimilation, but there is also some resistance at the same time. It seems to be that they stick to Indian traditions and will not lose it. In Chrystos’ poem we read about a woman who is adamantly writing about not assimilating. For her she sees the “American dream” to be nightmarish. The very way she writes her poem is almost to mock the structural document other American Indians were forced to sign. “This US is theory  illusion, terrible ceremony”.

          As discussed in essay one, the “model minorities” tend to assimilate to the dominant culture, but that is if they want to assimilate at all. In Gish Jen’s In the American Society, we see the mother getting used to new ideas of America, and having her own opinions about things. “She herself was now interested in espadrilles, and wallpaper, and most recently, the town country club” (A159). We see an Asian woman seeing new opportunities for herself. Then we read about the husband who is doing quite well in his pancake house and living a comfortable life, but still not wanting to assimilate all the way. “Your father doesn’t believe in joining the American society”. (A159). This is a prime example of immigrant minorities being the “model minority” but still not willing to assimilate. Rather, they are embracing acculturation.

          We see a young girl in the beginning of Patricia Smith’s poem, Blonde White Women wanting desperately to be a white woman. “When I was white, my name was Donna. My teeth were perfect; I was always out of breath”. This is how that five year old saw white women, as perfect people that always are busy or have somewhere to be because they are liked by everyone. She describes her trying to color herself pink. This shows to what lengths she would do to be like the dominant culture. But now, reading her Ebony she realizes what beauty she already possess. “Even crayons fail me now-I can find no color darker, more beautiful, than I am”. This is by no means resisting assimilation, but finding one’s own self while living with the dominant culture all around.

          When comparing the African American writings to the immigrant writings, there are quite a few differences to them. As for the African American narratives, the reader can feel the deep emotions in them compared to the immigrant narrative. Of course there will be raw emotions, because many were brought over here on slave ships and not treated well in the least. Some had no idea of the New World. “I had never heard of while men or Europeans, nor the sea” (Olaudah Equiano). We tend to get more details and information from the African Americans. Perhaps this was their way of telling people exactly what they went through. Maybe it is wrong to say, but could it be that African Americans went through more struggle and persecution than other immigrants? Just from the few African American writers we read, them seem that they have a lot more to say. Another aspect that is different between the immigrants and minorities is the act of wanting or striving to assimilate. In almost all the minority narratives we see the person or persons trying to assimilate to the dominate culture. This is not the case with the minority narratives.

 Of course slaves did not look highly on the “dominant culture” but at the same time had to have some kind of dream to aspire to them. The African American slaves’ dreams had to be what kept them going. Who else did they have to look up to besides the dominant culture? Yet they were the people they disliked the most. We do not hear about African American chasing that “American dream” some were better off than others, and some did make it to college. In Elethia she states, “Elethia went away to college and her friends went into the army because they were poor and that was the way things were”. Luckily times have changed and now all of the minorities in America have the same chance of accomplishing the “American dream” if they choose to.

Whether minorities and immigrants choose to assimilate or resist, that is their decision. We as people should keep in mind that not everyone who is in America has the same background story. Everyone could essentially write their own narrative with their own personal experiences and no two narratives would be the same.