Angela's Ashes Respone

           When first beginning Angela’s Ashes, I was not expecting the book to open with the McCourt family’s move back to Ireland from the United States. This book differs from nearly all the other books in this course in this respect.  Most others begin after a move to America has already been made and the reader must construct each immigrant’s past based on dialogue, reflection, or flashbacks.  However, through this unique narrative Frank McCourt is able to present both the effects of a failed attempt at immigration and describe in detail the events which result in a return to America by the end of the book.  

            The first facet of McCourt’s narrative which most interested me is the way in which the story comes full circle.  Frank’s memoir begins with his mother Angela’s arrival in New York after her mother told her she was useless in Ireland.  However, Angela’s possibilities for a better future quickly end when she becomes pregnant by a Northern Irish alcoholic immigrant and is encouraged to marry him.  Her marriage to Malachy McCourt leads to a return to Ireland, strained relationships with her relatives, several children, and a life filled with pain, hunger, and difficulty.  Despite Angela's misfortunate experience in America, her son Frank returns to America as a young adult.  Surprisingly, his time in America also begins with a sexual encounter, this time with a married American woman.  This leads me to question whether misfortune is also in his future as a result of this and other “freedoms” the new world offers.  

            A second facet of this memoir which contributes to the intrigue of the content is the effect that Frank McCourts parentage, religion, and socioeconomic background have on his childhood and decision to immigrate.  After the move back to Ireland, Frank is disadvantaged because of his father’s drinking and work habits and his Northern Irish heritage.  His alcoholism prevents his family from thriving or attaining the comforts and new technology their neighbors have. The prejudice against his Northern heritage was surprising to me, mostly because of my lack of knowledge about Ireland and Irish history.  That all the Irish were united in their views of Protestants and English and also harbored prejudice against each other was a new concept to me.  Secondly, Frank’s Irish culture is suffused with Catholicism.  Baptism, confirmation, communion, confession, and the prejudice of priests are each addressed in Frank’s life.  Many of his interactions with the Catholic institution are negative such as when the door is slammed on him after his interest in becoming an altar boy.  Finally, his father’s failure to provide for his family keeps them in poverty.  They rely on the dole, begging, and stealing to survive. In this book, the author’s familiarity with the poor Irish Catholic experience adds to the authenticity of the story. 

            Frank McCourt’s Memoir was an unexpected book for this course.  However, it’s insights about the immigrant’s experience before coming to the new world are helpful to understand the immigrant’s experience after arriving in the new world.  Both Angela and Frank’s stories develop the appeal Frank sees in the opportunity and freedom American has to offer.  

A Gesture Life Response

          One of the most prominent attributes of Doc Hata in A Gesture Life is his control.  He is calculated in his conversations, business, relationships, and schedule. However, Doc Hata can also be described as controlling. When he decides what he wants, he tries his best to attain his goals, even this means disregarding rules or neglecting the needs and desires of others.  This controlling trait stems from his desire to attain and preserve a reputation as a “good” individual in his roles of Japanese soldier, Bedley Run citizen, and adoptive father.  However, as Mary Burns states, he “tries too hard”, often causing others to suffer. 

     

          Doc Hata’s control as a Japanese soldier during World War II is seen in his interactions with K, the comfort woman with whom he forms a friendship. He has control over K’s life, deciding not to lock her in a closet to keep her from suffering heatstroke and refusing to kill her as she asks.  Instead, he wants her to be his wife and seeks to protect her and keep her alive.  This action leads to a terrible end for K. Once in America, Doc Hata establishes himself as a “good citizen”.  The people of Bedley run respect him and ask for his advice, despite the fact that he is not actually a doctor.  However, his good standing with the people of Bedley Run leads him to affect the lives of those around him.  For example, he showed control over Officer Como when she confronted teenage Sunny about her lifestyle.  Although Officer Como knew the truth about what Sunny was doing, she did not try to argue with Doc Hata.  Instead, his threat to end their relationship concluded a conversation Sunny needed to hear.  Thirdly, Doc Hata uses control in the life of his daughter.  Before she comes to the United States, Hata bribes the adoption agency in order to get a child.  As she is growing up, Hata gives her what he believes she needs rather than what she actually wants from him. His conversations with her are similar to those one would have with an adult rather than a child.  When Sunny reaches her adolescent years, her relationship with her father is unrepairable and she seeks love elsewhere.  Finally, Doc Hata controls her decision to have an abortion in her late teens, a decision which she later regrets. 

      

          A Gesture Life was a hard book for me to read because I sympathized with Doc Hata, but could also evaluate his decisions from a different perspective.  He has well-meaning intentions, but also does not see the danger of “trying too hard” to be “good Doc Hata”.  He is unlike other immigrant fathers such as Ashoke Ganguli who try to form bonds with their children, steering their children towards old traditions, but not completely controlling their decisions.  Ashoke is more willing to release his control, especially in his children’s relationships, habits, and lifestyles. For instance, he did not force Gogol to read the book he was given for his fourteenth birthday or break off his relationship with Ruth or Maxine. Doc Hata’s control gives him the appearance that he only cares about his reputation rather than his relationships.  However, at the close of the book, Hata uses his control for the benefit of others, selflessly providing for Liv Crawford, the Hickey’s, and his daughter and quietly removing himself from their lives.

House of Sand and Fog Response

         In House of Sand and Fog, Dubus opens his book with the quote “Beyond myself somewhere I wait for my arrival” from a poem by Octavio Paz.  This quote is appropriate for the book because Colonel Behrani, Kathy Nicolo, and Lester Burdon all arrive at a specific destination by the book’s end.  In the process, they each try to establish their identity in a new setting and work towards a particular goal which depends on the cooperation or manipulation of others for its realization. The tragic ending of the story is a result of each of these characters losing sight of their goal and their newfound identities. 

     Colonel Behrani is the immigrant in House of Sand and Fog.  Before coming to America, he was an officer under the government of the Shah in Iran.  In America, Behrani finds his identity in protecting his family rather than a military title. He buys Kathy Nicolo’s house in an attempt to provide a way for his son to pay for college.  Behrani kills his wife and commits suicide at the end of the book because he feels he is no longer able to protect his family following the death of his son.  He believes it is better for them to join his executed friend General Pourat and his family in heaven than live in America without justice and without their son. 

    Kathy Nicolo loses her house as a result of not opening mail which would have warned her of the coming auction.  Her husband Nick also leaves her.  These two events cause her to be depressed and experience low self-esteem.  When Lester Burdon enters her life, she finds her identity within his love for her.  Her need for his attention blinds Kathy to the harmful impact of their relationship on her life as she begins smoking and drinking again.  It is only when she believes that Lester is not coming back to her that she leaves the campground, becomes drunk, and points a gun at a woman at the gas station.  Her act of finding identity in her connection with Lester eventually leads her to prison.  Surprisingly, this destination offers the stability she had been seeking after she lost her house and her husband.

      

     Lester Burdon finds his identity in seeking justice as a police officer.  However, he takes this too far when he allows himself to get emotionally involved.  His relationship with Kathy Nicolo prevents him from seeing the conflict about her house impartially.  As he tries to protect Kathy, he compromises the law by breaking into the Behrani’s house and threatening them at gunpoint.  His actions lead to the death of the colonel’s son and his own imprisonment. 

      

     House of Sand and Fog is different from some of the other books we have read in that Dubus contrasts the immigrant experience with that of the displaced American.  His book shows that both of these experiences are the same in many ways.  The uncertainty of the immigrant in the search for identity is not unlike the instability many Americans face throughout their lives, especially as relationships and living situations are lost.

The Namesake Response

The Namesake Response

            Jhumpa Lahiri’s book The Namesake follows the life of Gogol Ganguli, a man born to Indian immigrants, from birth to age thirty two.  In this way, her book is unlike the others we have read so far since other narratives began after the main character was already partially or fully grown.  I believe this trait of the story is especially helpful since the reader is given the opportunity to see how parts of Gogol’s earlier life, the lives of his parents, and the lives of different women with whom he forms relationships mold him and help him to discover who he is. 

            Gogol’s parents play the most important role in his life when they choose his name.  Nikolai Gogol is the author of a book Gogol Ganguli’s father Ashoke was reading when he nearly died in a train wreck.  While recovering, Ashoke thought about a conversation he had held with a fellow passenger in which he had been encouraged to “see the world” while he could.  This conversation prompted Ashoke to move to America to continue his education after he had recovered from the accident.   Ashima, Gogol’s mother, immigrated to America after marrying Ashoke, a man she did not know prior to the wedding.  During Gogol’s growing up years, his parents represent his Indian heritage in their expectations of him, their food, their habits, and the trips they take back to India to visit family members.  They are the perpetual influence in his life, a reminder of the part of himself Gogol tries to reject throughout the book.

            Gogol’s relationships with different women between college and age thirty also impact his life.  These women include Ruth, Maxine,  Bridget, and Moushumi.  To them, he is Nikhil, the name he chose for himself when he was a teenager.  Maxine and Moushumi have a more significant role in Gogol’s life out of these four women.  Maxine represents Gogol’s attempts to completely become Nikhil and spurn his Indian heritage.  Gogol often notices that his parents could never conform to Maxine’s world, nor could Maxine be comfortable living like his parents.  In her world, he is free.  However, when his father dies and Gogol experiences Indian family duty, he comes to understand that he could never conform completely to Maxine’s world either.  Moushumi is a blend between Gogol’s heritage and the American personality he strives to adopt.  Although their parents put them together, their relationship is unlike the arranged marriages in India.  Gogol and Moushumi share a living space before their wedding and Moushumi exchanges her traditional sari for an American evening dress at her wedding reception.  In the end, Moushumi leaves Gogol for another man.  Moushumi represents the fact that Gogol has begun to accept his background rather than reject it.  He seeks the permanence the Indian culture offers rather than the temporariness of the American culture. 

            These relationships are nearly as important to the story as Gogol’s name.  They mark turning points of his life’s journey as he struggles to establish his identity.  I have seen this same pattern in my life.  Without these relationships, Gogol would definitely be a different person by the end of the book. 

Paper #1

Paper #1: Dreams and Lies

            “America was not Italy” Mario Puzo writes toward the end of The Fortunate Pilgrim.  In the sentences following, he describes the success and opportunity to be found in the new country.  However, there are other ideas suggested by this statement, ideas which permeate the three books we have read in class so far.   The second view points to the feelings of loss the immigrants experience when they leave behind the old country.  Also, Mario Puzo captures the concept that the new country is not quite what the immigrants expected it would be.  America is neither the old country nor a shimmering paradise as it is often portrayed. Connecting these three interpretations of Puzo's statment are the lies the immigrants believe before coming to the new country. 

            Although most of the characters we have encountered do not obtain the fullness of the American Dream, a select few experience success toward that end.  Bai Dajian, Yuan’s former fellow POW, is the character from War Trash who is able to most fully grasp the dream of the POWs for stability, success, and honor.  Near the end of the book, Yu Yuan sees Daijan, now a wealthy businessman, on a television screen years after Daijan went to Taiwan. Yuan and other repatriates wonder if their lives might have followed similar paths had they gone to with the Pro-Nationalists.  In Bread Givers, Sara Smolinsky succeeds in reaching the American Dream.  After the unhappy marriages of her sisters, Sara leaves the old world of her father entirely, working hard to earn a college degree and waiting to fall in love with a man of her own choosing. The Fortunate Pilgrim offers more than a few examples of Italian immigrants who live the American Dream, although the dream looks different for each of them. At the close of the story, Lucia Santa and her family are able to purchase a house on Long Island after saving money for several years.  Other examples include Dr. Barbato and Mr. La Fortezza the welfare investigator.

Each of these characters experiences the first interpretation of Puzo’s statement, believing the new world is one of fortune.  However, the lie believed is that all those that arrive at the new world have the same experience of success.  Although Yu Yuan and the other repatriates regret their fate, Yuan also understands that many who did not repatriate did not have the same fortune as Daijan. However, this understanding does not stop other former POWs from wishing they had not repatriated.  Also, the lie that brought them back to mainland China in the first place related to the false dream of equal opportunity and honor with soldiers who had not been captured. For the Smolinsky family, America seemed to be the land of fortune before they arrived, but Reb Smolinsky and his wife are not able to attain it because of Reb Smolinsky’s refusal to compromise his faith and embrace American ways.  Lucia Santa’s fortune in the ability to purchase a house is reduced by the terrible prices she pays along the way as she lost two husbands and one son.  For her, fortune is not equal for every person and comes at a cost higher than she is ready to pay. 

The statement “America was not Italy” also carries with it the understanding that the immigrants have lost important parts of their lives and habits in coming to the new country.  Yuan’s return to mainland Communist China as a former POW causes him to lose his fiancée, his reputation, and the career he might have had.  Had he not needed to leave because of the war, he would not have endured these trials.  Sara Smolinsky’s mother misses the beauty of the homemade curtains and tablecloths she owned before coming to America and her father misses the reverence people had for the Torah and Jewish customs in the old country.  The Fortunate Pilgrim addresses this concept most as the Italian women lament the corruption of their children several times throughout the book. They consider Italy to be “where fathers commanded and where mothers were treated with respect by their children.”  Their tone implies a wish that the journey to America had never been made.

The lie believed in this interpretation is that the new country can support the ways of the old country.  However, Communist China has no appreciation for Yuan’s skills after his reputation is sullied by his months as a POW. The Smolinskys quickly discover that a man must work for his family to be able to survive in America.  Being “a light” to others by studying the Torah is not understood in America and does not put food on the table.  For the Italian immigrants, America offers a place where their children can be educated.  However, they expect the behavior of their children to reflect the conduct of children in the homeland. This shows that just as the situations of immigrants change in the new country, the immigrants themselves are expected to change. 

Finally, Puzo’s statement addresses the misleading optimism of the immigrants for the new world.  Often, the new country was imagined as a paradise. For example, the Communists stress the ideal of fraternity and deceitfully welcome back their POWs with open arms and promises of forgiveness. Yuan believes he can resume the life he had before the war.  Reb Smolinsky takes his family to America with the thought that “things cost nothing at all”.  Also, he believes the persecution from the Russian Tsar cannot affect him in America. Lucia Santa travels to America with the belief that life will be better for her than in Italy with her overbearing father.  She expects a life of hope.

            “America is not Italy” points to a longing for a perfect country. However, the miscalculation in this optimistic view is that no such country exists.  It remains in the imagination.  Yuan discovers that the Communists lied about his ability to return to the life he had prior to the Communist takeover.  He finds a future that is considerably better than that of Commissar Pei and other Communist Party members, but it is far from the future he expected.  Reb Smolinksy learns that money is a necessity in America and is confronted with new forms of persecution in the unsympathetic landlady, potential suitors for his daughters, and his rebellious daughter Sara who all refuse to understand his religious zeal.  Although Lucia Santa is able to purchase a house on Long Island, the sorrow she experienced during her forty years in America was not in her prior dreams of a life away from Italy.

            Empty promises of success, acceptance of the expectations and traditions of the old land, and perfection link America and China in these three books as Yu Yuan, the Smolinskys, and Lucia Santa are fooled in their beliefs about the new country.  In actuality, the new country filled with failure, poverty, the rejection of old ways, disappointments, and new problems to face. The reactions to the reality of the new country vary by character. In the end, Reb Smolinsky refuses to change his ways, still clinging to the lie that the Russian Jewish traditions can remain the same in an American setting. However, Lucia Santa and Yuan are similar because they leave behind the lies they formerly believed and embrace the new country as it is.  Behind all the lies, the new country still holds a good future for both of them.  The new country is not the old, nor is it the realization of the dreams they had about it.  However, the new country still remains a land of hope.