Immigrants

Immigrants in the 1900’s sought out to become welcomed and make America their new home, by becoming “Americanized.” The immigrants achieved this “Americanization” by changing the way they looked, lived, and even their way of thinking. However, no matter how much change they went through, their traditional values were instilled in them and therefore were still very much a part of their lives.

Since the immigrants were looked down upon and blamed for most of the American society’s problems, immigrants strived to be accepted by the American people. They tried to dress like the white people did. The women tried to find nice dresses that looked similar to what a rich white lady would be wearing, but still affordable for their low income. The immigrant girls used cosmetics to try and make themselves look more acceptable and blend in with the rest of the American people. An example of this is when Sara is working at the laundry mat in New York. As she sees her fellow co-workers all looking pretty and their faces done up in makeup, she decided to do the same. Also, when she was in college, she saw what the other white girls were wearing and she wished she could look as clean cut as they were. So when she finally became a teacher, she went to the store her classmates shopped at, and bought nice clean plain clothes that she had always hoped she could be able to wear. Although the clothing she had picked out were plain dresses, they made her feel more confident and accepted by Americans. Men also tried to look their part as being “Americanized.” They tried to buy spiffy suits and dressy shoes.

Although immigrants were poor and didn’t have much money to work with, they tried to use their resources to live like the white American. They would try to make the inside of their house look neat and clean by using a couple accessories. For instance, Bessie, Sara, and Masha all fix up their kitchen with a white tablecloth and some other accessories so that their kitchen look pretty, and not old and run down like the rest of their home. Something such as this may seem so small to us, but to them made them feel proud of their home. They felt that they had a nice clean pretty kitchen just like the white American families had.

Families also tried to fit in with the American people by having the same jobs as white American people had. An example from the book is when Sara and her family try to run their own grocery store. Like American families, immigrants liked to open their own family business. When the opportunity came for Sara’s family to run their grocery store, they were all filled with excitement. Although their chance at running their own business wasn’t successful, for the couple seconds that they thought their dream had come true, they were all happy and thought that all their troubles had come to an end.

A major part of becoming “Americanized” is for the immigrants to change their way of thinking. Some things that would have been acceptable or not acceptable in their old country would not be the same in their new country. A major example of this is when Sara decides to leave home and live on her own. Since Sara had grown up in America, her way of thinking was different than that of people who had lived in her old country (Russia) and grew up with the old traditional values and way of thinking. Her family and the rest of the community who still had their old tradition instilled in them, looked down upon her. She went off to college and lived on her own for six years. She took care of herself and made a career for herself. All this would have been unheard of in her old country, but here it was a possibility for her and she made it happen.

Although immigrants lived differently in their new home and tried to become accepted by the American people by being like them, they were still influenced by their old traditions. As we see with Sara, throughout the whole book, she strives to be like the white American women. She worked hard to live, look, and even have the same occupation as American women. Yet, in the end, her old traditional values get the best of her when she decides to let her father live with her. The life she had been trying to escape from finally caught up with her. For so long she had wanted to be on her own and not support her parents, but after so many years of running, in the end she did exactly what she had hoped not to be doing.

Although it is not uncommon for parents to live with their children in an American home, it is not considered as important as it is in other cultures. In America some parents in old age may live with their children, or they maybe be put into a home. However, it is unheard of for children to put their parents into a home in other countries and cultures. It is expected for parents once they cannot take care of themselves, for them to go live with their children. In Sara’s case, she wanted to stray away from that way of life and just focus on her self and bettering her life. Yet in the end, she ended up taking her father in when he was old and sick. Besides showing a caring side and love for her father, this also shows her deeply rooted traditional values that were instilled in her at a young age, but covered up as she went through her “Americanization” stage. For years she tried to become something that she thought would make her happy and accepted by the American people. Yet when she returned home, although she was happy, she didn’t feel the feeling that she thought she would by accomplishing her dreams. In addition, she ended up living the life she tried to escape, but in her heart she knew what she was supposed to do. She knew that it was her duty to take in her old aged father.

Another traditional aspect of immigrant culture is to have acceptance from the father so that a woman may marry. This is shown in the book when Bessie, Fania, and Masha all give up the love of their lives and marry the men their father had brought to them. Even though its not what they wanted, they gave in in order to please their father. Of course this way of thinking is totally not accepted in the American society, but even thought the girls tried to Americanize themselves, their traditional values influenced their decisions which in the end made them do what a girl would normally do in their old country.

In order to be accepted in their new country, immigrants had to change many aspects of their lives so they could blend in with the American society. However, in the end they still have their old traditional values that eventually influences their decisions and way of life even through there process of becoming “Americanized.”