The Third And Final Continent : The Migration And Mobility

One’s commitment of immigrating to a new country for a better life indicates that oneself is ready to risk the life given to them by facing many hardships along the way. In the novel Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, Enrique does exactly that, risking his own life at the age of seventeen in order to reunite with his mother who left him when he was five in order to obtain a better job in the US and give Enrique and his older sister everything she thought they deserved. Nazario utilizes an emotional appeal and metaphors to inform readers of the arduous situations migrants experience on their long and tiring journey in search of a family member and a better future.

“They wept together, for the things they now knew.”(104) The last sentence of the first story in Interpreter of Maladies, reveals the cruelty of the elapsed romance in a marriage. In the two collections, A Temporary Matter and The Third and Final Continent, Jhumpa Lahiri demonstrates that a marriage can be either uplifting or discouraging depends on the mindset held by the couple and the strength of human bonding. Lahiri emphasizes the significance of mindset and human bondings through the ending of the two stories. The endings of the two stories are polar opposite : In A Temporary Matter, Shukumar and Shobha weeps for the termination of their relationship; The Third and Final Continent, by contrast, the protagonist(MIT) enjoys a fairytale-like

The progression of people into and within the United States has had an essential impact on the nation, both intentionally and unintentionally. Progressions such as The Great Migration and the Second Great Migration are examples of movements that impacted the United States greatly. During these movements, African Americans migrated to flee racism and prejudice in the South, as well as to inquire jobs in industrial cities. They were unable to escape racism, but they were able to infuse their culture into American society. During the twentieth century, economic and political problems led to movements such as The Great Migration and The Second Great Migration which impacted the United States significantly.

The Great Migration was a massive movement of African Americans from the South to the North from 1863 to 1960. The largest spike in this migration occurred from about 1910 to 1920.

“Berlin, Ira. The Making of African America The Four Great Migrations. By Ira Berlin. New York: Penguin Group, 2011. Pp 289”

The migration of European settlers and culture to North America is an often examined area. One aspect of this, however, is worthy of deeper analysis. The conquest of North America by Europeans and American settlers from the 16th to 19th centuries had a profound effect on the indigenous political landscape by defining a new relationship dynamic between natives and settlers, by upsetting existing native political, economic and military structures, and by establishing a paradigm where the indigenous peoples felt they had to resist the European and American incursions. The engaging and brilliant works of Andres Rensendez and Steve Inskeep, entitled respectively “A Land So Strange” and “Jacksonland”, provide excellent insights and aide to this analysis.

In the story “Four Stations in His Circle”, Austin Clarke reveals the negative influences that immigration can have on people through characterization of the main character, symbols such as the house that Jefferson dreams to buy and the time and place where the story takes place. The author demonstrates how immigration can transform someone to the point that they abandon their old culture, family and friends and remain only with their loneliness and selfishness.

The Great Migration brought about a massive redistribution of the African American population throughout the United States. It transformed black ways of life, art, and institutions, as well as the demographics and cultures of many American cities.

Author, Scott Russell Sanders, once wrote, “Wholesale dis-placement may be inevitable; but we should not suppose that it occurs without disastrous consequences for the earth and for ourselves” (70-74 Sanders). This quote can be traced back to his work, “Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World,” in which he encompasses the revolutionizing topic of human migration. He commences his essay with the origins of migration and proposes that Americans are now likely to concur with the idea of migrating, as a result of Salman Rushdie’s story, a writer who left his native India for England. However, Sanders contradicts and retaliates Rushdie’s notion. Rushdie believes migrating is imperative, meanwhile Sanders thinks the idea of migrating is more detrimental, rather than beneficial. In Scott Russell Sanders’s composition, “Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World,” he utilizes effective diction and fear tactics in order to develop his perspective about moving.

African American’s somewhat silent non war revolution of migration to the North and Midwest of the United States which started roughly in 1915. The Great Migration of African American’s was sparked by work labor shortages during World War I. Until this point of mass relocation to the north and west, the majority of African Americans have primarily resided in rural areas of the south. Thousands of opportunities arose in large urban cities and towns across the Northern and Western United States. This migration is also said to have sparked the civil rights movements as well as shaped sports and music. These opportunities and the

Both William Landay and Jhumpa Lahiri use conflicts in their stories to demonstrate the theme of resilience and perseverance. William Landay uses the conflict of Andy’s belief in his son and Lahiri uses the narrator’s will to be successful as those characters’ motivation to continue working for what they believe in. Andy and Laurie’s visit to Dr. Vogel shows the beginning of a conflict in Defending Jacob. “‘So?’ ‘So what does shoplifting have to do with murder? What’s the difference if he took a candy bar or something from CVS? What on Earth does that have to do with Ben Rifkin being brutally stabbed to death?’” (Landay 146). Andy Barber never once stops believing that his son is innocent, even after this leads to fights with Laurie and could potentially lead to divorce. However he fights for Jacob and he knows they will get through the trial. While Andy Barber’s conflict and perseverance is more mental, the narrator of “The Third and Final Continent” has a more physical conflict he must overcome. The theme of resilience is also developed in this text when the narrator is telling his son about his life at the end of the story. “Whenever he is discouraged, I tell him that if I can survive on three continents, then there is no obstacle he cannot conquer” (Lahiri). These words of wisdom demonstrate resilience because the

“They knew there was a possibility the agent had sold them out to the militants, and so they knew there was a possibility this was the final afternoon of their lives”(Hamid 102); leaving your country might be the hardest decision that someone has to make. In Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West he puts his main characters in a dangerous situation of trusting a total stranger to get them into another county with a chance of them being sold out and killed. This decision to migrate includes leaving your family and friends, starting your life over, and possibly endangering the lives of your family along with yourself. Hamid follows a young couple migrating out of their home town for safety and a better life. The challenges presented in the novel can be applied to real life migration. Hamid represents the difficulties of traveling from country to country through his magical doors, includes learning how to find your way in new places, and presents the idea of countries not wanting migrants. Exit West reveals the migration issues in today's world to prove that migrants deserve the same basic liberties as everyone else, because it effects everyone else and takes a lot of will power to travel to an unfamiliar place.

This is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration is about a little girl that recalls the journey of her grandmother when she migrated from South Carolina to New York City with her family. The rope is passed down from generation to generation and is used as a household item, to play games with, and hold objects in place. The rope also represents the changes, struggles, and memories that bind the family together. I would use this book in a literacy and physical education lesson with 2nd-graders. I would read this book out loud to the whole class. I would have students discuss, identify, and write about themes, traditions, migration, and how the rope was used in the story. Students would also focus on the vocabulary words; generations, block, college, reunion, migration, and locate South Carolina, New York City, and Brooklyn. As a class, we would then perform different physical activities using our own rope (walking, jumping, creating symbols and shapes). I personally liked the way this book used the rope as a meaningful metaphor to link a historical time period when African Americans left their southern homes in search of the freedoms found in the north. I believe this book creates a great starting point into understanding structure, sequencing, and the important historical events that changed U.S. history. I love integrating books with physical education. It allows students to be active, engaged, and creates lasting memories.

Has anyone lived a life without misfortune? Doubtable; even the person with what could be described as the ideal life deals with some form of adversity. The novel, Speak, and the short story, The Third and Final Continent, both use plot as a way to convey themes of hardship. Moreover, these texts both use symbolism in order to develop their themes as well. The Art of Resilience and Speak utilize characterization as a method of developing their respective themes. Speak, The Third and Final Continent, and The Art of Resilience each deal with the theme that all people must learn to cope with adverse situations.

In the Second Edition of Servants of Globalization: Migration and Domestic Work, Rhacel Parreñas examines all of the challenging aspects of the lives of migrant Filipino domestic workers. Throughout the interviews that are included in this novel, the author was able to analyze different cases filled with personal struggle and familial support using the perspectives of many determined women across the diaspora, mainly focusing on those to travel to work in Western Countries. In this paper, I will briefly summarize the first three chapters, bringing to light the most important aspects the Parreñas included. I will then discuss the methodology used in her convincing global ethnography, before I include both the advantages and disadvantages to