America and I by Anzia Yezierska

America and I by Anzia Yezierska


America and I, written by Anzia Yezierska, is a story about an immigrant who arrives in the United States with many hopes and dreams. She comes with the belief that America is the place she can find a life free from drudgery and oppression. She also believes that in America, she will be able to express her creativity.


She believes that she can find a job that will allow her to be able to write. However, when she arrives in the United States, she finds out that her hopes and dreams are not a reality. Instead, she ends up in the slums of New York, working in a sweatshop and living on her meager earnings.


The Struggles of an Immigrant


This story was originally published in 1922 and is about the struggles of an immigrant to become part of American culture. It is similar to stories such as House of Sand and Fog, by Jamie Ford, and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Sandra Cisneros.


Yezierska narrates her story in first person, making the reader feel that she is telling her own story rather than a third party. This point of view allows the reader to understand her thoughts and feelings better. It is a great technique for a short story.


A Disappointing Reality


She starts the story with a hopeful and anxious tone, but this changes dramatically over the course of the narrative. She was so excited to arrive in America and finally find her dream. She believed that in America, she would be able to have the time she needed to express her creativity and to build the life that her ancestors were not able to achieve.


Her dream is eventually realized, but it takes years for her to find the happiness that she had hoped for. She works hard and perseveres through a series of difficult experiences, but eventually, she discovers that America is not what she thought it was.


Persistence and Assimilation


Despite her disappointment, Yezierska holds on to her beliefs and continues to try to be an American. She attends classes at the factory where she works, visits the Women's Association, and learns how to read and write English. She also becomes involved with charities that help immigrants assimilate to the American culture.


The author uses language that is exaggerated and overwrought to describe the struggles of the immigrant in America. She does this to emphasize the oppression of the new world and its insensitivity to the struggles of the immigrant. She does this by using phrases such as "airless oppression," "stifled spirit," and "darken darkness."


A Powerful Representation


In this story, the narrator never names her character or identifies her as a person, which is what makes her more powerful. This is because the narrator is not an actual person but an entity that represents the struggle of the immigrant in America.


In addition, she uses the images of flames, fire, and light to describe her hopes for her future in America. She uses these images to show that her hopes are not just for herself, but also for the future of her people. Her hope for her future is to bring her people to a country that will help them to flourish and grow into a new society.

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