At one point in life when things are tough in our normal places of living we are forced to leave for a better place. There are many causes of human migration and among them includes; wars, epidemics, famine and unemployment. People migrate hoping to find a better life than their original home which sometimes become insecure and uncomfortable. However, where the people leave, they are not so sure of the kind of life they are going to live but they are just motivated by hope and faith that it shall be well. Moving into a new nation where people practice different culture becomes difficult sometimes to cope. Since when the parents make a decision to move they tend carry their children with them, the children become the most affected with situations. Sometimes it is not easy for parent to convince the children to adapt the new lifestyle and may be the cause of many issues children have with their parents in foreign nation. Despite all the challenge that comes with migration, it callsfor humility, flexibility and aggressiveness of the immigrants to adapt well with the situations. Therefore, there is a lot of effects posed on immigrant and children are the most affected.
Body
The cause of Korean emigration
Regarding the story of the native speaker, quiet odyssey and still life, it is clear that the Koreans in America during the year 1900 onward moved because of war and other hardships. It seems there were fierce war in Korea that the families never felt safe of and so decided to moveto America where there was peace.It is obvious, that national warbrings about unbearable life that only a few who are strong survives.For instance, in the story of the quite odyssey, we realize that the parents moved with them so that there could be atleast one member of the family who would survive and have a better life (Mary, 371). On the other hand, in the story of still life with rice, the mother and grandmother are so grieved because of the wars that pushed them off limits till they moved to America to find safety. Therefore, the war was the main cause for this families to migrate to America and leave their native lands.
Act of employment
After migration to America, it is evident in the three passages that finding employment was not easy for the immigrants. And if they found jobs they, the wages were so small that they could not sustain life with it. It is clear that, families had no time for each other since everyone in the family was committed to finding work to do. The children who were a bit older in the family could also work to earn and help the families to pay the bills. However, the Americans had good jobs and are the ones who offered jobs at petty salaries to both parents and their children. Referring to the story of quiet odyssey, we see that all the people were committed to finding a source of money. At first it was their mother who was lucky enough to find a job, to cook for fruit pickers but the whole family was involved in her work. It was until she was about to give birth that the husband find work in some place so that she could rest. Since the wages could not cater for all the family needs, the children were advices to find work to add up to the wages (Mary, 379). On the other hand, in the story of the native speaker, it is clear that it was not easy for the two immigrants to find work and when they found it they did it to the last of their energy in a day. They also worked for long hours which implies that theyhave little or no time for their families except Sundays (Chang-Rae Lee, 1). The other story concludes the difficulty of finding a job as immigrant since we realize that the father of the narrator had travelled out for four months in search of a job. Still there was little family contact.
Life of the immigrants
If only they knew the difficulties they were to face in the foreign nation maybe they could not have left their country, Korea.Although the life they found in America was defined as better and good for survival. The truth is that, the immigrants in these stories faced difficulties to survive in America. They went through hardships and challenges to find shelter and earn a living. Unlike the Americans who lived in good houses, ate well and dressed nice, the immigrants had not that comfort. They struggled to find food and sometimes could go without food. They had no enough money to rent good houses and to buy clothes. Like in the story of quiet odyssey, the father had to sew the court himself for the child as a school uniform since they had now sewing machine and they could not afford the tailoring cost. On the other hand the children of the immigrants in the native speaker only ate what was brought to them by their father. The food they ate included overripe fruits that could not be sold, almost rotten with a toxic taste. Good for them, their fathers still earned some money inclusive of bonus and could buy some other things and manage the bills. So sad for the quiet odyssey, who struggled to find food and still their father could not allow them to go for free food offered by the Salvation Army. However, the still life with rice narrator, were better off than others since they could get food from the restaurant and did not struggle so much compared to others. In all occasions there was no loophole for luxury other than finding shelter and feeding.
The attitude
Children in both the stories could not hid their feelings toward life they saw or grew in and felt like the parents made a wrong decision. It was a discussion that children were not involved in decision to move from their own countries. Therefore, they were the most affected both psychologically and physically. In the story of the native speaker and still life with rice, the children, narrators, developed a bad attitude towards their parent. It was in regard to the situations they went through because of their parents. Regarding the native speaker, the child has a bed feeling about how his father treated the immigrants and the less wages he paid them. At some point he refers his father to as a cruel employer who had no mercy at all in the way he treated the immigrants (Chang-Rae, 2). Even he was not an exception of working from the shop but he was not aggressive as the immigrants. He was denied time to spent with his friends even over the weekends. On the other hand, the girl in still life with rice was always annoyed by her mother and grandmother, and she was never entertained with their stories so they kept on arguing more often (Halie, 13). For the quiet odyssey, the narrator expressed anegative attitude towards life the moment they got into a new land. She questioned her father about the decision to move but by the explanation given to her she accepted the life they were to live. She changed her attitude and was actively and willingly involved in helping to find money and help in the family issues.
Conclusion
People migrate from their homes because of difficulties they face but with a lot of uncertainties of the land they go into. The immigrants face challenges in the foreign land that they even wish to go back to their home lands. They still go hungry, for some times, lack shelter and sources of finance and life is full of struggle. Though it is a decision made by parents the children are the most affected since some are very young to understand why they left their homes. However, the parents carry the blame from children in all cases that they suffer. The natives of the land tend to enjoy life at the expense of immigrants since they use them as cheap labour to develop their lives and gain more profits. Therefore, immigration maybe an option of insecurity, famine and other hardships, it does not guarantee comfortable life rather a better than the native one.
Work cited
Chang-Rae Lee. Native speaker
Mary paik lee (1990). From quiet odyssey.
Helie lee. Still life with rice
