The Imported Bridegroom By Abraham Cahan

Ewen's Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars Throughout history, the concept of Americanization has been studied in order to better understand the effects of a mass culture on immigrants. On one side stands the view of an immigrant engulfed in American ideology who leaves behind his past. He conforms to this new individualism and now is able to move upward on the economic ladder. On the opposite end of defining Americanization is the unscathed immigrant who maintains his old word traditions and institutions to emerge

The American is a new man who is neither a European, nor his direct descendant. He is a strange mix of blood which cannot be found in any other country. The American is described as a person whose grandfather was an Englishman, his mother was Dutch and who has married a Frenchwoman. The American is a person who has left behind all his ancient manners and prejudices, and has received new ones from the mode of life he has embraced, the rank he holds and the government he obeys. A person becomes an American after being received in the broad lap of the great Alma Mater, and he becomes melted down into the new race of men whose posterity and efforts could transform the world in the days to come.

Since the establishment of the colonies, America has been viewed as the “land of opportunity.” It is thought to be a safe haven for immigrants, and a chance at a new beginning for others. “The Clemency of the Court” by Willa Cather published in 1893, tells the story of Serge, a Russian immigrant, who overcame the struggles of a tough childhood and fled to America to receive protection from the state. “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni published in 1995, tells the story of Sumita, a Indian immigrant, who is moving to America so that she can marry her husband that her family has arranged for her. Both “The Clemency of the Court” and “Clothes” show the evolution of the American immigrant experience.

The personal narrative “Born in Amrika” (2003) by Mona M. Maisami speculates that children of Iranian originated parents struggle between culturally identifying themselves as American or Iranian. Maisami develops her main idea by narrating through the point of view of a young girl born in America interacting with her Iranian born cousin Nina. Throughout the story, Nina and her cousin encounter various differing cultural phenomena such as dress and meal rituals before realizing they can adapt to both cultures at the same time. This short story highlights these two different lifestyles in order to emphasize the way American citizens with overseas connections question their character because of their newly adopted home. In hopes to reach out to

Religious influences derived from T.M Rudavsky’s “Gender and Judaism” will differ in effect on the individuals as to either reject or integrate their Jewish identities with American liberties. The articles focusing on diverse theories of assimilation being a natural element in the immigration process such as Milton Gordon’s “Assimilation in America: Theory and Reality” which will contribute the concepts “Anglo-conformity” and “cultural pluralism” as they assist Yezierska’s and Antin’s directive of assimilation in America. “Spatial Patterns of Immigrant Assimilation” written by James P. Allen and Eugene Turner will propose the significance of “cultural assimilation” constructing Sara’s and Mary’s identity through a culture that expresses a wealthy lifestyle with archiving an education in terms of success. These theories support the literary strategies of fiction and realism as their differences in external influences and personal decisions highlight the similar outcome of an incomplete assimilation integrating Jewish

She explains her thesis by stating “Others who write stories of migration often talk of arrival at a new place as a loss of communal memory and the erosion of an original culture. I want to talk of arrival as a gain,” (360). The key points of the text include Mukherjee describing her transition between Calcutta and the United States, and what it means to be and American and how culture influences that aspect. The information in the text is significant; the people of America are a part of a melting pot, sometimes it is hard for them to find the distinction between American culture and their own. The information in Mukherjee’s story is clear and specific, unbiased, and is relevant to the purpose of the story. I believe Mukherjee has achieved her purpose of informing her audience about cultural differences; she presents certain strengths and weaknesses within the text.

Immigrants arriving in America for their first time are initially devastated at their new lives and realize their “golden lives” were simply fantasies and dreams of an ideal life in America. Immigrants from foreign countries, including those mentioned in Uchida’s Picture Bride, faced countless problems and hardships, including a sense of disillusionment and disappointment. Furthermore, immigrants and picture brides faced racial discrimination not only from white men, but the United States government, as well. Immigrants were plagued with economic hardships lived in deplorable living conditions. Though nearly every immigrant and picture bride who came to America fantasized about an ideal life, they were faced with countless hardships and

Yezierska’s short story, “America and I,” describes life for a young, female immigrant from Poland, the struggles faced in her homeland, hope for freedom in America and heartbreaking craving for an American identity. Known as “Queen of the Ghetto,” and “The Immigrant Cinderella,” Yezierska came to see America as an idea, “a deathless hope – a world still in the making” (Yezierska 6). Yezierska, fearing that America had lost the “richness of its soul,” chose to write about her life, and the trials that Jews endured in the ghetto of New York, poverty they left Poland to escape. Attempting to “build a bridge of understanding between American-born and [herself]” she continues, that her hopes during 1923, for the “Americans of tomorrow […] will be too wise, too open-hearted, too friendly-handed, to let the least lastcomer at their gates knock in vain with gifts unwanted” (Yezierska 7). Yezierska, Paine, Hamilton and many, numerous others share her ideal that hope transfers tolerance and acceptance for every soul that lands on these

She's shallow, she's proud, and she's first rate entitled. Yes, she has a factor when she complains approximately being betrothed to John Harmon inside the will of an antique man she by no means met. But even before there is any mention of this reality, we discover that she's:

America is a melting pot of culture. The statue of liberty at Ellis Island has welcomed hundreds of thousands of immigrants into this country since the early 1900s. Although the immigrant families knew it was important to learn the American language and American culture, they also wanted to keep alive their rich heritage and pass it onto their children. This was often a struggle as their children attended American schools and picked up on the American culture ways quicker than their elder parents. Often these children, especially the teenagers, would struggle with embarrassment over the ways their family was different from other American families. One author who wrote about this struggle was Amy Tan.

This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when

In the Wedding of Zein by Tayeb Salih, the ability of diverse groups of Muslims to come together and celebrate Zein’s wedding reveals the power and strength of community in Islamic culture. Despite divisions amongst the community throughout the book, Zein is able to interact with all factions of the village, regardless of their standpoint. Zein is portrayed in the book as a group of one. Zein is isolated as a group of one because of his constant openly berating if the imam. Although he can sometimes appear as an outcast because of this, every group in the village still appears open and understanding of him thanks to his open personality and likeability. The turning point in the story, which leads to a closer community, is when Zein chokes Seif-a-Din for hitting him over the head with an axe. Seif-a-Din decides to put his former life behind him and become more devout to his religion and closer to Islam. Ultimately, after this event, the whole village becomes closer and more united, with a greater sense of cohesion amongst the village. Zein’s wedding represents the coming together of the community despite the differences of religious belief and modernist and traditionalist viewpoints. The Wedding of Zein reveals the ability of Islam to bring people together, even despite their minor differences. At the center of this is Zein, an example of how one person and their desire to good for others has the ability to touch so many diverse people and forge a bond that ties them all

“But Mrs Bennet’s obsession with marrying off her daughters at all costs stems from real practical parental concern—if they do not marry, they may starve, especially given that Mr Bennet himself has made no provision for his daughters' futures but seems instead to be in a form of denial—he retreats to his library” (Jones). Readers sympathize with Mrs. Bennet’s aggravating personality when they realize her actions stem from a place of worry for her daughetrs’ future. Since Mrs. Bennet is a woman, she can provide no other form of security but marriage for her daughters. Mrs. Bennet’s actions also originate from a deeply personal part of her life- her marriage. Compared to other men during this time period, Mr. Bennet has done little to give his daughters a financially sound future and sees the search for a husband as silly and dismisses it. Mrs. Bennet has no other way to support her daughters, causing her to obsess over the idea and constantly push her daughters to act proper in order to get a husband. “Mrs. Bennet makes herself ridiculous in her attempts to be overly feminine; she fancies herself a victim of others’ cruelty, constantly complaining that no one regards her ‘nerves’. She has little respect for decorum…her marriage, built on physical attraction, is now a loveless union” (Guggenheim). Mrs. Bennet’s desperation to find her daughters’ spouses can be attributed to the unaffectionate

Mrs. Fairfax believes that Rochester will marry Blanche Ingram. Blanche’s family believes they are a great match, with equal social status. Rochester may not have the same plan, as social status is not what he is looking for. Jane is not happy with herself, because she fell in love with a man out of her social reach. Both Jane and Blanche Ingram have positive and negative qualities. Rochester prefers one woman based on those positive qualities.

This is the reason both proposals are declined: Elizabeth is of a mind that she will not marry for social security or for money – only love could tempt her into matrimony.