Gary Shteyngart Little Failure Analysis

Gary Shteyngart’s memoir “Little Failure” retraces the journey of an immigrant from Soviet Russia to the United States, at a time characterized by the ideological, economical and political power struggle between the two countries. This immigrant experience, as with many, is rich with historical stories and cultural contradictions, giving the reader insight on where the author comes from and his new surroundings. However, as Shteyngart’s tale progresses, the real Gary is gradually exposed, enabling us to understand him beyond his immigrant status. Though Shteyngart’s permanent move from Leningrad, Russia to the United States plays a crucial role in the definition of his identity, the author is more than your typical immigrant split between

In fact, Shteyngart’s behavior as developed previously is predominant in numerous immigration and twentieth century tales. For example, in the movie adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated, the audience follows the journey of a young Jewish American in Ukraine, helped by two locals, for the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II. Though Everything is Illuminated’s three protagonists are captivating, they do not seem to be fully developed beyond their ‘rigid search’. Jonathan Safran Foer is a young Jewish of Soviet/Ukrainian descent, living in America, dedicated to retracing his defining heritage, to understand where he comes from. We know little more about his life in the United States. Alex Petrov, Jonathan’s guide and translator on this trip, is an uncensored, attention-craving Americanized Russian who will grow as he uncovers and embraces his family background. Baruch, Alex’s grandfather, though portrayed as an advocate of the former Soviet Union and its anti-Semitism, will reveal to have been the victim of its ideology. A Jewish, faced with the guns of Nazi soldiers, who will deny his ethnicity and religion to survive and who will eventually forget where he comes from. It is only once he revisits and comes to term with his past that Baruch finds peace. In a way, these ‘uncomplicated’ characters offer delineations of three key individuals of the post-World War II world and conveniently, the multiple facets of Gary the