The Immigrant Experience
It is the dream of every immigrant, to live a worry free life in a new country that can offer so much. A place where one can work for suitable wages, a place where one can raise their children free of the problems plaguing their previous country and a place where one can grow spiritually and socially. Yet with these incentives, one can be put through an internal struggle between one’s past and present. This struggle is over the decision of assimilating into the “new” society’s beliefs, or clinging on to past cultures and lifestyles. Immigration is said to bring diversity and richness to Canada, yet “this richness generates issues or dilemmas for minority groups, individual group members, and the Canadian society in general” (Martin 7). Assimilation can be drastic or very simple, from changing one’s diet (food eaten) to converting one’s religious beliefs. In some cases it’s beyond ones control, yet this adaptation can occur without one even realizing it. The determining factors of whether to assimilate or not are the morals and beliefs that the immigrant has been brought up on. If the immigrant was brought up on strong morals and beliefs towards their religion and nationality, chanc
Growing up in Jamaica and growing up in Toronto are two very different experiences, and Suzanne went through the worst part of the transition. Growing up in St. James, Jamaica, Suzanne was raised with strong family morals that had been influenced by Christianity. She knew right from wrong and she knew her role not only in the family, but in the community as well. She was taught not to be ashamed of who she was and that the Lord would guide her steps wherever she went. This belief was severely tested the day she made her way to live with her mother in Toronto. There will always be a constant struggle plaguing immigrants whether to assimilate or not. The immigrant’s choices can either work for them, or cause repercussions, but it is their choice whether they would want to lose their true identity by conforming or not. None of us, who are born in our home country can even start to imagine the problems new immigrants deal with upon entering a new country, let alone the hardships they encounter once there. It is their choice, yet they have to determine and choose how they want to live their new life based upon their upbringings, keeping in mind the positive and negative long-term effects. es are that the immigrant would rather be alienated and looked down upon rather than conforming to the beliefs and morals of the people in the new country. In the cases of Sleep On, Beloved and The Kitchen God’s Wife, both Suzanne and Pearl (the protagonists), have the choice of whether to conform to the society of the new countries that they immigrate to or maintain old lifestyles. They do this by analyzing the morals and beliefs they were raised with, the difficulties they encounter once they immigrated and the thought of a “lost identity”. Through the book, Winnie remembers times when Pearl refused to learn abou
Some topics in this essay:
Immigrant Experience,
Western Chinese,
Unlike Suzanne’s,
West Indian,
Subhas Ramcharan,
Jamaica Suzanne,
American Chinese,
Toronto Jamaica,
Suzanne Pearl,
Canadian” Chapter,
morals beliefs,
kitchen god’s wife,
immigrant brought,
immigrant experience,
world war,
god’s wife,
war ii,
kitchen god’s,
world war ii,
chinese background,
feelings towards,
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Approximate Word count = 1228
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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