Carlos Marquina 

The Immigrant Narrative: Process of Assimilation Into the Dominant Culture

               The American narrative is the synthesized story of the vast multitude of peoples that have arrived in, and those already inhabiting, the United States over the past 400 years. Although the Puritans are considered the first immigrants to what is now the United States, they do not make up part of what we currently consider the Immigrant narrative because they had no intention of integrating into the established dominant culture of the North American natives. Similar to the Jews in the Exodus story, the Puritans established a dominant culture that they brought from their old country. This dominant culture then becomes the backdrop and setting for the American Immigrant narrative. The immigrant, in contrast with the colonist or settler, comes to a new place with the hopes of integrating into the dominant culture.  As in any interesting narrative, conflict arises during several stages in the attempt to integrate: 1) the immigrant must decide to leave their old home; 2) the journey is made to the new home in America; 3) the immigrant feels resistance and/or exploitation at their arrival to their new setting; 4) the immigrant begins to assimilate to the dominant American culture and begins to lose ethnic identity; 5) an attempt to rediscover or reassert parts of the ethnic identity. Through the literary texts studied in class, these stages of the American immigrant narrative will be further explored to identify the common structures, themes, and conflicts that arise not only in the whole narrative, but also during each stage of the narrative.

               The Puritans in New England and the Scots-Irish in the southern colonies established the dominant culture of the United States. Although the Puritans were community- minded, their failed social experiment led them to become a more individualistic, self- driven, and mobile society. The Puritans’ high regard of education greatly helped push the individualistic “can do!” attitude. They did, however, maintain some semblance of their community spirit that had two very important yet opposite outcomes: the establishment of social welfare and the refusal to intermarry or assimilate with the natives. The Puritan work ethic and focus on education were highly lauded even by the earliest of immigrants. Crevecoeur writes, “I respect them for what they have done; for their accuracy and wisdom with which they have settled their territory; for the decency of their manners; for their early love of letters; their ancient college, the first in this hemisphere; for their industry; which to me who am but a farmer, is the criterion for everything.” It is interesting that while Crevecoeur applauds the creation of a “new man” that integrates into a new society in these colonies, he applies the dominant model to those Puritans that refused to mix with the natives or other future immigrants. Crevecoeur observes that “the American is a new man who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions” so that America becomes a melting pot made up not only these new immigrants, but also their ideals. The American declaration of independence mirrors these ideals by stating that every man has the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These rights are not really for every man, however. Only for those that chose to participate in the American experiment and to dream the American Dream. Native Americans and Africans brought by force do not get to participate in the American Dream, but suffer from the American Nightmare. The topic of minority Native Americans and African slaves will be covered in the second essay.

               The American Dream and “guarantee” of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is the driving force behind American immigration. In Sui Sin Far’s story In The Land of The Free, the mother says to the baby, “There is thy home for years to come. It is very beautiful and thou wilt be very happy there…There (America) is where thy father is making a fortune for thee.” It is not only a matter of hope for a new and better life, but an expectation of it. In the case of early immigration, industry attracted thousands of people from Western Europe and China. Stories of economic success attracted people from the Old World to this new world of opportunity. Andrew Carnegie, perhaps the most famous and most successful of early immigrants, demonstrated in his autobiography that hard work and a cheerful attitude allowed him to climb the ladder of success in America. More recent immigration, however, has also been driven by the promise of better educational opportunities. In A Wife’s Story, by Bharati Mukheree, Panna comes from an already well-to-do Indian family and is married to a successful businessman. She comes to America in pursuit of a Ph.D. in special education, a degree that may not advance her position in India. Jayanti, in Chitra Divakarumi’s Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs, also comes to America in pursuit of a college education. Once the decision has been made to leave the Old World, the immigrant must make the journey to America.

               Over the four hundred years of American immigration the journey to America has changed. Journeys that used to take months to complete via boat are now only a few hours long by plane. Yet, the transitory effects still remain the same. For instance, the painful separation from loved ones left in the Old country is still the same today as it was hundreds of years ago. Carnegie recalls, “I rushed to Uncle Lauder and clung around his neck…I was torn from him by a kind sailor who lifted me up on the steamer.” Jayanti feels “sadness for my friends…who will never see any of this.” Anxiety is also felt as the immigrant attempts to imagine America.

               The arrival to a new setting oftentimes does not go as planned for the immigrant. With their expectations set high for economic and/or educational success, the new immigrant cannot fathom the resistance from the dominant culture. A person belonging to the dominant group plays the role of “gatekeeper”. It is their duty, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, to provide resistance to the newcomer. The gatekeeper sometimes sees him or herself as a helper to the new immigrant. In The English Lesson by Nicholasa Mohr, Mrs. Hamma plays the role of gatekeeper although she is volunteering to teach new immigrants how to speak English. Mrs. Hamma “was convinced that this small group of people desperately needed her services.” Although she’s helping the students by helping them learn English and assimilate faster, she nonetheless has the power to open or block their passage of transition into the dominant culture. She controls the classroom and decides how much time and at what pace the students give their presentations. The students are dependent on Mrs. Hamma for their transition into the dominant culture. Another instance of the gatekeeper or gatekeepers is seen in A Wife’s Story.  In the play that opens the story, the writer David Mamet and the actors of the play joke about “Patels.” Panna, clearly insulted, thinks about writing to Mamet to complain about the play’s crude jokes. Panna explains, “I don’t hate Mamet. It’s the tyranny of the American dream that scares me. First, you don’t exist. Then, you’re invisible. Then you’re funny. Then you’re disgusting. Insult, my American friends will tell me, is a kind of acceptance. No instant dignity here.” It is the assumed role of the gatekeeper to test out if a new immigrant can “make it.” If the immigrant can thrive though insults and abuse then he or she finally has the right to belong in American society. What a far separation from the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

               The first- generation immigrant is usually the one that has to suffer through the pains resistance and exploitation by the dominant culture. The second- generation, born in America, tends to assimilate into the dominant culture while still maintaining some of their ethnic past. By the third generation, the immigrant culture usually becomes fully assimilated to the dominant culture. Third and fourth generation immigrants have little to no connection to their ethnic culture and even lose their hyphenated- American status. This multi- generational assimilation process can be clearly seen in Gish Jen’s In the American Society. The plot of the story follows the narrator’s father first in his own society and then in the American society. Through the narrative, the father’s own society exists here in America, but he clings to the values of his native China. The narrator and her sister are already Americanized, or fully integrated into the American dominant culture. The daughters encourage the mother to join the country club. But the mother is reluctant because, “Your father doesn’t believe in joining the American society…he wants to have his own society.” The girls, however, function in the American way of doing things: they try to listen to their father’s employee’s demands, they fill the comments box in the restaurant, and they feel comfortable at the party. Even though the mother and father are at different stages of assimilation, the girls have completely assimilated to the American way of life.

               This story also demonstrates the final phase of the Immigrant narrative. Once assimilation has occurred, the assimilated immigrant attempts to rediscover or reassert parts of their ethnic heritage. In the final scene of Jen’s story, the girls are quite impressed with their father’s refusal to humble himself to the dominant culture’s bashing. A sense of pride is heard from the girls, “That was great, Dad…You were stupendous…Way to show ‘em.” The girls recognize that there is value in their father’s “old world” ways. Gregory Djanikian’s poem, “In the Elementary School Choir,” confuses places in order to reconcile Old World and New World experiences. The narrator cannot identify with the Puritan heritage of America, but he can identify with his own Egyptian heritage and transpose those images and places onto the American landscape and the American dream. Instead of rejecting his past, he’d rather embrace it to give him more meaning and attachment in America, “And how could it not be home/ If it were the place where love first struck?” It is this last stage of the Immigrant narrative that allows for the melting pot to actually function.