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Assimilation into the American culture
Examples of assimilation in america
Examples of assimilation in america
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A Patriarchal World
John Bodnar says it well when he suggests that "the center of everyday life was to be found in the family-household. It was here that past values and present realities were reconciled, examined on an intelligible scale, evaluated and mediated." This assertion implies that the immigrant family-household is the vehicle of assimilation. I will take this assertion a step further and examine more specifically the powerful role of the patriarchal father within Anzia Yezierska's book Bread Givers and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. Yezierska's theme vividly depicts the constraint of a patriarchal world, while Levinson illustrates the process of assimilation and the immigrant, now American, family and its decline. In this paper, I will exemplify how the patriarchal father, Sam Kochinsky (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Reb Smolinsky are the key determinant of the dynamics by which the family assimilates.
In assimilation, you are said to conform to your surroundings. Assimilation is a process by which you reconcile the ideal with reality. Dealing with virtually three generations of an entire Jewish American immigrant experience, Levinson illustrates not necessarily the merging of two cultures, but possibly the tainting of authenticity, clouding (memories of) the familiar-the villain being the television. The happy community of extended family is, in the end, supplanted by the glowing idiot box that kills conversation and turns its suburban audience into zombies.
In Yezierska's work, she epitomizes the struggle between the Old World and the New World. The patriarchal father, representing traditional Jewish ways, and Sara Smolinsky, the heroine, struggling against her father with the desire to reconcile with reality. In Bread Givers, Yezierska symbolically depicts Sara as the immigrant parting her ways as she embarks anew on the journey that was given to her when she arrived by which to transform her life-dealing with the daily transformation as she struggles to hold together the wants of society and her (families) authenticity in these days of deep troubles. The head of the family, Reb Smolinsky is an immovably Orthodox Jewish rabbi, who lives by the Holy Torah, and expects his family to do the same. His reign over the family reinforces Old World, traditional values and beliefs. Reb holds to the Torah belief that "if they [women] let...
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...ggested an adaptation in the hopes that Jules would simply have a better life than that of a wallpaper-hanger. In putting television in place a New World, Levinson portrays how a cheap, gaudy, poor substitute somehow seduced and enraptured the family. Perhaps Levinson is saying that although it may be the easier to converge, assimilation is too costly. On the other hand, you have Reb whose stubborn beliefs and male superiority coupled with a passive wife allow him to claim control over his daughter's lives. Resentment is quite damaging and separates families as well. Either way you look at it the outlook is favorable for neither assimilation nor isolation. And so I conclude in saying that the patriarchal father has an especially important role and while he needs the strength found in Yezierska's character, Reb, (in order to hold the family together) he must also be willing to adapt to a changing reality. Immigration is neither a call for assimilation nor isolation. Individuality is important, but why resist change when you can better yourself in the process.
Bibliography:
Levinson, Barry. Avalon. 1990.
Yesierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. Persea Books: New York, 1999.
The novel Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska examines the roles and experiences of Jewish immigrants in America roughly after the years of WWI in New York City. The novel follows the journey of Sara, a young Jewish immigrant, and her family who comes to the country from Poland with different beliefs than those in the Smolinsky household and by much of the Jewish community that lived within the housing neighborhoods in the early 1900s. Through Sara’s passion for education, desire for freedom and appreciation for her culture, she embodies a personal meaning of it means to be an “American”.
According to Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, between 1880 and about World War I, the vast majority of Eastern European Jews and Southern Italians came to the United States populating neighborhoods in New York and the Lower East Side is the best example. One thing, which was common to the immigrant experience is that, all immigrants come to the United States as the “land of opportunity”. They come to America with different types of expectations that are conditioned by their origins and families. But every immigrant comes to America wanting to make himself/herself into a person, to be an individual and to become somebody. In this case, the author showed in Bread Givers, Sarah’s desire to make herself into something and bring something unique to America, which only she can bring. It is an effort to understand the immigrants, particularly Jewish immigrants, from a woman’s point of view. The book shows that it was a challenge for Jewish immigrant children, particularly females, on the account of the intensity of their family’s connections and obligations that was so critical for the immigrant communities. This was true for the immigrants who came to settle in the neighborhoods like the one Sarah and her family settled in.
Anzia Yezierska’s 1925 novel Bread Givers ends with Sara Smolinsky’s realization that her father’s tyrannical behavior is the product of generations of tradition from which he is unable to escape. Despite her desire to embrace the New World she has just won her place in, she attempts to reconcile with her father and her Jewish heritage. The novel is about the tension inherent in trying to fit Old and New worlds together: Reb tries to make his Old World fit into the new, while Sara tries to make her New World fit into the Old. Sara does not want to end up bitter and miserable like her sisters, but she does not want to throw her family away all together. Her struggle is one of trying to convince her patriarchal family to accept her as an independent woman, while assimilating into America without not losing too much of her past.
A well-discussed debate in today’s economy is the issues concerning immigrants and their yearning desire to become American citizens. As displayed in The Jungle, a rather perturbing novel about the trials and ruthless temptations early America presents to a Lithuanian family, adjusting to a new surroundings and a new way of life is quite difficult. To make matters worse, language barriers and lack of domestic knowledge only seem to entice starvation and poverty among newly acquired citizens, who simply wish to change their social and economic lives to better themselves and their families. Such is the case of Jurgis Rudkus and his extended family, consisting of cousins, in-laws, and their multitude of children. Natives to the country of Lithuania, Jurgis and his family decide that, after Jurgis and his love, Ona, marry, they will move to Chicago to find work in order to support their family.
Frederick Douglass was a noted writer, abolitionist, orator, and former slave; in fact, his oratory ability was so good that there were those who were among the most ardent opponents of slavery who could not believe that he had been a slave. His best known work is Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, a book of eleven chapters and an appendix. The purpose of the book was to provide a well-written account of a slave’s life for northern readers who might not yet be convinced of the abolitionist cause. Thus, the book was both a memoir and a polemic against the institution of slavery.
Douglass’ different portrayals of his masters provide the most significant theme of his Narrative. Douglass believed his first master Captain Aaron Anthony fathered him. He depicts Captain Anthony as a cruel man who took pleasure beating and whipping his slaves, especially his Aunt Hester. On a particular occasion, Douglass witnessed his master force his Aunt into the kitchen, strip her naked, and whip her till her blood ran thick. This marked Douglass’ introduction to slavery as a young boy and forever impacted his view towards slavery. At the age of seven, Captain Anthony sent Douglass to work for his second master, Hugh Auld, Captain Anthony’s son-in-l...
states that men are to work and make money for the family. A woman's goal was to
Many people in America want to assimilate to the U.S. because they think that being American is a better option. People such as the Italians in the 1870s tried to assimilate in order to become an American to not become an enemy in the U.S. Also, the Mexicans today are constantly coming to the U.S. to have a better life because they know being American is the best solution for their problems at home. What assimilation mean is when a person leaves one’s own culture to join a different culture the person wants to be. For the purpose of this essay, an American is a person who has commitment to succeed in what one wants, able to speak english, to love the pop culture in the U.S. at the time one is living such as the hit songs, games, T.V. shows, etc. but not to other cultures, and be a citizen in America. People throughout history must assimilate to become a true American
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy Of Julius Caesar”. Literature Texas Treasure. Eds. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. et al. Vol. 5. Columbus: The McGraw-Hill, 2011. 693-787. Print.
Milstein grew up in a Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal and Rohinton grew up in a middle class neighbourhood in India and immigrate to Canada as a young adult. Milstein grew up in a very ethnic neighbourhood; his home was around the corner from a Chinese laundry. Wing Ling and his wife are both survivors of World War II and the Holocaust. With most of their family deceased “an air of sadness...enveloped the place.” (Milstein 150) His neighbourhood was enveloped by the sights, sound of smells of the local Jewish vendors that sold traditional Austrian treats. Milstein’s essay reflects back on his own childhood then he compares it to his sons childhood. Realizing that his sons walk to school is not an enriching as his own. Mistry’s essay goes through his childhood and focuses on his relationship with his brother’s friend. When growing up in a middle class neighbourhood in India the narrator did not have access to all of the luxuries that upper class citizens would have. Growing up in a society where your friend is a in a higher social class is not easy. They may go to school together however they eat lunch apart, and when his brother came home from playing with Jamshed he would receive interrogations from their Mum. Jamshed was from India’s upper class society; he lived in a “collection of hyphenated lavishness.” (Mistry 153) The main difference between the three boys was economic class. This may not sound like much however this class difference had a big impact of the brother’s lives. Little things like a CD soundtrack had great meaning to the brothers it symbolized the cultural and social class differences that was happening in India during the 50`s. The narrator’s childhood had a large impact on his cultural identity; he was growing up in a small social class, treated like a child whenever he was around his
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