Under the Desguise of a Passageway to Happiness: Assimiliation

In her article “A Note to Young Immigrants” from Fall 2005, Mitali Perkins reflects on her own negative experience as an immigrant in the US; and in the final part of her article, she provides a note to other immigrants as on how to deal with the feeling of being different and how to turn this negative perception into a positive experience. First, she lists some examples based on empirical evidence what exactly an immigrant loses by immigrating into another country: she says that as an immigrant, one will first lose the feeling of having a “home” and that one will start perceiving everything by means of “race”. Furthermore, she explains that the new country does not give the feeling of belonging because one feels different in means of traditions, language, understanding societal codes of behavior and also in means of sticking out of the mass everywhere one goes. At the end, Perkins states that one should not get discouraged and rather should try to see one’s own distinctiveness in a positive light; namely, as owning the best qualities of two different worlds. In conclusion, Perkin’s main argument is that although immigrants might experience a loss on various personal and cultural levels, they should not get discouraged or give up as they can turn this loss into

This excerpt is taken from the short story “Neighbours” by Tim Winton. The story and the excerpt illustrates how people with different cultural backgrounds react to each others behavior. It also shows us how different some cultures really are. In this particular case there’s a culture-clash between the culture of a young newlywed couple from Australia and their neighbors of European origin. In “Neighbours” the couple themselves belong to the overall majority culture of the country. Still they feel like foreigners in this neighborhood. They have to choose whether they are going to adapt to the culture of their neighbors or not. Which brings us to the topic of this essay; accommodation. Should immigrants leave their culture and traditions behind when migrating? In what degree should they adapt to the new country’s dominant culture? Should they adapt at all?

In The Colonizer and the Colonized, Albert Memmi presents his arguments on the benefits and problems of assimilation of the colonized. According to Memmi, bilingualism of the colonized is a benefit and a problem for the colonized. In addition, he illustrates how self-rejection, self-hate, and shame are problems of assimilation by the colonized. After providing evidence of Memmi’s arguments, I will analyze whether the arguments he provides on the answer of assimilation in his book still hold up in modern society. Although Memmi provides pros and cons to assimilation being the answer to colonization, there really is no benefit if it means that suffering is the root cause of one choosing to assimilate to the oppressors.

Over the course of history, South Asians have been mistreated and undermined within American society. This is especially evident after the terror attacks of 9/11 in which Americans shunned its South Asian Population, and reduced them to devastating stereotypes. This has created tension and hostility within the South Asian community, thus pressuring them to being more Americanized, and further creating a fixation towards becoming more white. The obsession with American culture has caused many to conform, leaving behind cultural and religious parts of their identities. It is necessary to explore the history behind the mistreatment of South Asians to understand why the change in identity such as those portrayed with Changez in The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Amir in Disgraced have occurred. These main characters of South Asian descent make it is clear that the American dream for immigrants creates a constant struggle between national and transnational identities as racism and hostility are being thrust upon them by American society.

Migrants and immigrants are from a whole different world, although many authors in Growing up Asian in Australia were born in Australia and while their customs and traditions are seen as the norm to them they are seen as different by many Australians. These cultural traditions and practices are far from what the majority are used to and so are neither known nor understood. This result usually in people misunderstanding migrant’s individuality and can cause unfair exclusion. Governed was horrified when the school bully accused her of wiping her “butt with her hands” on the terms of her Indian background and as a result had to deal with constant teasing and taunts

Every individual, no matter who they are, will all face challenges that result from their backgrounds and cultures. Born in Calcutta, India and later moving to the United States, Amin Ahmad was an individual who discovered this harsh truth first-hand. In his essay, “I Belong Here,” Ahmad reflects on his experience of being treated differently from those around him based off his cultural background. He analyzes the emotional barrier that forms between the journey of immigration and the continuous feeling of inferiority based solely on the desire to belong. The article is written to provide a different point of view; one focused on introducing to the world the challenges and emotions immigrants face after starting the journey towards a new life.

A person has always been able to choose to what extent their cultural experiences affect their perspective. Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds,” Bharati Mukherjee’s, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” and Robert Lake’s, “An Indian Father’s Plea,” all show how the main characters have chosen to let their experiences have an effect on their cultural identity. A person’s cultural experiences shape perception based on their own identifications and they may chose to assimilate to different cultures.

In the article “Being an immigrant in the United States today means..,” an interview from one of the many immigrants here in the United States stated that they “try our best to look American” because of the worry that anytime they might have to prove their citizenship and documentation just for being Indian. Similarly, in the prologue of the book The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the narrator describes the journey of a woman across the ocean towards America while saying, “Over there nobody will look down on her, because I will make her speak only perfect American English!” Both these scenarios describe how immigrants are not being fully accepted by American society. It shows that different ethnicities and races are still widely separated no matter the country both live in together. The fear of being frowned upon by Americans and fellow Chinese civilians in America by the woman and the fear of getting picked out because of the color of their skin by the interviewees prove that these people have to live with the pressure of perfecting American ways and culture.

Immigrants’ refusal to appreciate a fused culture promotes division. Mukherjee questions the idea of immigrants losing their culture for American ideals: “Parents express rage or despair at their U.S.-born children's forgetting of, or indifference to, some aspects of Indian culture,” to that Mukherjee asks, “Is it so terrible that our children are discovering or are inventing homelands for themselves?” (Mukherjee, 1997, para. 28). Many immigrants experience anger when their children no longer hold the ideals of their home country. This tension produced within the household hinders the unity within a resident country’s culture and encourages division within families. Using herself as an example, Mukherjee provides another instance of anger directed at her from her own subculture: “They direct their rage at me because, by becoming a U.S.

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.

The topic of diasporic identity is a favourite topic of discussion among the younger generation. Parameswaran uses the frequent get-togethers of the youngsters at the Bhave house to air different viewpoints of the immigrant experience as seen from the point of view of the younger generation. Some favour total integration, but others speak of retaining the old, while adapting to the new. Many feel that only by sticking together can they confront the threat of racism. When the newcomer Dilip says “You should make every effort to merge since you’re here to stay” (Sons 37-38), Vithal Moghe, who is something of a rebel and who into always speaks of militating for one’s rights, retorts

Many second generation minorities from immigrant parents are driven subconsciously to conform to new culture and social norms. For foreign born parents and native born children integrating the two cultures they inhabit brings about different obstacles and experiences. In Jhumpa’s “The Namesake” the protagonist Gogol is a native born American with foreign born parents. The difference with birth location plays an important role in assimilating to a new society in a new geography. The difficulty for parents is the fact that they’ve spent a decent amount of time accustomed to a new geography, language, culture and society which makes it difficult to feel comfortable when all of that changes. For Gogol the difficulty only lies with the cultural norms imposed by his parent’s and the culture and social norms that are constantly presented in the new society.

Throughout the novel, colonialism produces social, cultural and religious issues among the two colonial societies of opposing races. It’s obvious that the English has tried hard enough to gain power over India. The first object that has attracted the English is the mesmerizing background of India. In the novel, as Forster describes, “So abased, so monotonous is everything that meets the eye, that when the Ganges1 comes down it might be expected to wash the excrescence back into the soil” (Forster, 5). The English first enter India as foreigners who were influenced by the scenery as described. Instantly, they intend to become the ruler of India. Englishmen start to build their own colonies apart from the Indian ones. Even though, the English had stayed in India as tourists, their construction of colonial buildings suggests that they want to live further apart. However, in order to be the ruler, the English had to communicate with the Indians. Some characters such as Mr. Turton, Ronny and Heaslop have to deal with the Indians, but they keep the distance as minimal as possible. Due to their inhuman characteristic, Aziz and his friends had to suffer a lot. This idea suggests that no matter what, a colonizer and a colonized can never be close in a colonial society. The ruler will always be in power whereas the colonized will be humiliated in every second of their lives, even though the country belongs to them. Another social factor that had become an interruption

A person’s heritage and cultural identity may be lost when moving to a new country where the culture is different and other cultures are not easily accepted. In the short story “Hindus”, Bharati Mukherjee uses setting, characters and the plot to discuss what it is like to lose your cultural identity while being a visible minority in America. Mukherjee uses the plot to describe the events that take place in the main characters life that lead her to realize how different the culture and life is in the America’s. She also uses the characters as a way of demonstrating how moving away from one’s culture and heritage can change a person’s perspective and ways of thinking. Mukerjee also uses setting in her story to identity the physical differences in culture between living in India and America. Alike the setting and characters, the plot helps describe the loss of culture with a sequence of events.

The story of the movie The Pursuit of Happyness directed by Gabriele Muccino portrays a family who struggles with finding enough money to pay taxes and afford living expenses. The movie takes a place in San Francisco during the 80s. The two main characters are the father Chris Gardner and his son Christopher, Will Smith and Jaden Smith respectively. Gardner tries to support his family. But every time he attempts to make things better, they always end up worse. Gardner in the story wonders on "how to be happy?" He earns his money by selling the bone density