themes in unseen immigrant literature Flashcards
social class -
Behold the Dreamers explores how the lower classes depend on the generosity of those in the upper-class who employ them. Those who hold and control the most capital thus have the power to improve people’s lives as easily as they can worsen them (Jende attempting to acquire a higher socioeconomic status )
gender-
cell one - the sister having no name, ambiguity, no sense of significance in the extract, lack of attention to her, more focused on her brother, and his doings,
trauma and loss
the thing around your neck- ghosts, exploring post war effects, reminiscing loved ones, protagonist reminisces his wife, and his lost ones, argues their ghosts still come to visit him
intergenerational tension
exit west, sense of hostility between saeed and his father as he plans to leave the country with his wife, leaves his father unhappy: interegenraitional divide, different expectations
interpreter of maladies- the father (speaker) hopes his son does not become to westernised after studying in america, hops he holds onto his cultural roots through maintaining customs and practices
assimilating to the united kingdom
the lonely londoners - upward mobility,Many of the immigrants in The Lonely Londoners are eager to climb London’s socioeconomic ladder. However, they’re rarely given the chance to do so, since the best job opportunities go to white Londoners rather than to West Indian workers. Moses points out that all of the city’s “soft clerical jobs” are given to white people, leaving only blue-collar jobs for black people. This harsh reality creates little incentive for black immigrants to look for work
displacement
my antonia -
In 1862, the United States government urged colonization of Nebraska and other territories by creating The Homestead Act, which stated that any person who was an American citizen, or had declared his intention to become one, could claim 160 acres of government land. Some Eastern Americans, like Jim’s grandparents, simply moved west, while others, like the Shimerdas, came all the way from Europe to try their luck at farming the Nebraska prairie. Both groups were in search of a better life, and, as depicted in My Ántonia, both can be considered immigrants in that they suffer the trials of a new and unfamiliar life. But while both Jim and Ántonia encounter loneliness and homesickness for the lands they left behind, in My Ántonia the foreign-born immigrants experience the greater struggle. They face extreme poverty, the barriers of not speaking the English language, and the challenge of cultural and religious differences. In many ways, Cather’s novel is the story of these immigrants’ acclimation to the American Midwest, as seen through Jim’s eyes.
