"America and I"

The short strory America and I by Anzia Yezierska focuses on her early experiences as a Polish emigrant living in America. Yezierska came to America with a vast array of hopes and dreams, but as the story progresses it is clear that the dreams are out of reach. In the beginning she says this is what she thought America would do for her, “In the golden land of flowing opportunity I was to find my work that was denied me in the sterile village of my forefathers.”(69). Yezierska believed that she would be able to find a better life in America. She was not the only one who believed the golden image of America. Many immigrants believed that America could give them a better life, but when they arrived in America they realized reaching that dream would be harder than they had anticipated. During her early time in America she went through a few different jobs, but none of them made her happy. One of the things stopping Anzia from doing what she wanted to do was the fact that she was not able to speak English. Due to the fact that she could speak the language, her employers were able to take advantage of her. The first people that she worked for in America ended up not paying her anything at all. They thought it was enough that she was being fed and had shelter and she was asking for more than she deserved. I found it to be surprising that they would treat her so poorly, because they too were immigrants. When Yezierska went to the Vocational Guidance Center at the Women’s Association started one of the workers told her, “America is no Utopia. First you must become efficient in earning a living before you can indulge in your poetic dreams.”(75). This person is pretty much telling her to give up on everything that she believed about America. The woman is supposed to be helping her find a good job, but instead she is crushing all her dreams. This is one of the examples of how many Americans did not want to the immigrants to become Americanized. By not helping her, the worker was helping to perpetuate the division among the native born Americans and the immigrants. In order for the United States to be a strong unified Country then it needs to do what their name is all about: be united. If they allow the people to immigrate then they should also be accepted into society. At Anzia’s third job, they treated her as a worker should be treated. On top of that they taught her English, which is the key to surviving in the American society. Yezierska did not understand why the people she worked for did not like using the language of their birth Country. What she did not understand is that to succeed you have to Americanize and part of Americanizing a person has to learn English. I think that an immigrant should never forget the language of their birth place because it helps to make up who they are. It also helps to give the United States the nickname the Melting Pot. Anzia Yezierska is an excellent representation of what it means to be an American immigrant. America is not a land that has streets paved with gold, but that does not mean there is not great opportunity. To find the potential that America has to offer one must Americanize without losing themselves. In order to accomplish the transition they must be welcomed into the society. If that happens the immigrants may be able to find their “gold streets” that they are yearning for.

citation
Yezierska, Anzia. "America and I." "The Oxford book of Jewish stories." Ed Ilan Stavans.New York:Oxford University Press, Inc,1998.68-77 Print.