First Day of an Immigrant by Frederick Grove and Civilization by Crisz - Book Report/Review Example

number A comparative essay on the Canadian dream in “first day of an immigrant” by Frederick Philip Grove and Civilization by Rienzi Crisz Introduction Literary authors use their writing opportunities to convey different messages. They usually focus on a particular element that needs to be changed ion the society or that which is being conducted in a proper way. However, there are others that use their literary texts to highlight certain elements that cause great concern to the society. This is the case in relation to the Canadian dream that is given a lot of focus and attention in first day of an immigrant by Frederick Philip Grove and civilization by Rienzi Crisz. They are viewed from different approaches since even the authors tackle the topic from different angles. There is a great Canadian dream that is related to the aspect of immigration. Both of these texts are involved with this dream though in different ways. It is this aspect that brings about the main difference between the texts. In both texts, there are immigrants who gain entry into the Canadian land. Each of them is astonished and overwhelmed by what they see and encounter. In this sense, they are both driven by the Canadian dream to afford the lives of the inhabitants hence make their future in the new land better. They also have similar experiences. However, they handle these experiences in different ways hence accomplishing the Canadian dream in completely varied ways. Thus, while others are able to realize this dream fully, there are others who are not able to do so based on the different ways that they work towards it and against the oppression that they face as they try to adapt into the new ways. The Canadian Dream The Canadian dream was created for those who were moving from Canada to other new places. It made use of the term ethnic, which was used to refer to all those individuals who have become immigrants but are not members of the founding cultures in Canada. They include those who are not the catholic French or the protestant Anglo-Celtic. In addition, the term ethic was also used to involve all those aboriginal inhabitants of Canada, the native Indians as well as the Inuits, who have always kept their distance and alienated themselves from the Canadian society. The main aim was to bring about personal development and prosperity for the individuals. It was clear that any immigrant from Canada to other areas would feel pressured to adapt to most of the new ways that they experienced in the new areas. However, despite their ability to learn new ways, it was advisable that they do not get fully assimilated in the new ways but also try as much as possible to hold on to their previous ways and not forget their original culture. Depending on the surrounding circumstances, they were required to take up a new culture and a new voice to resist and fight oppression and discrimination owing to their current state. According to the Canadian dream, as an immigrant people were expected to work hard and put a lot of efforts in whatever job they found. With this, they could be in a better position to overcome the trials and tribulations of adjusting to the level and quality of life in the new country. Therefore, they would develop more confidence that the job prospects would getter better and present more opportunities for their children in the future (CNS, 2008). However, the Canadian dream, which is also known as the immigrant dream usually seems too far beyond reach. There is a great difference in the way the Canadian dream is depicted in the novel “first day of an immigrant” from that in the poem “civilization”. In “first day of an immigrant” the theme that most appropriately resounds with the Canadian dream is recurrent throughout the novel. While in the former an intense significance with the Canadians is brought out in the sense of similar identities and activities, in the latter the persona is totally overwhelmed by what he encounters that he fits completely into the system being exactly like the Canadians. Groves attempts to show how most of the characters in his novel envision living the Canadian dream when they arrive as immigrants in the new countries. A proper example of this is Niels, who upon arriving in Sweden develops an intense desire to live like those he found in the area. He already has dreams also to own and possess most of the item and property like the inhabitants of the region. Most of the things and the items that he finds in Sweden leave him wondering whether he would be able to attain them in the future. In the book, Niels is a new immigrant who seeks to find his way into his new job in Canada from Sweden. He goes to purchase some clothes for himself after the hardware dealer had shown him the direction towards the store where he had obtained all the items that he needed. In this way he is able to fulfill the Canadian dream in the sensed that with his new clothes on he now looks like a Canadian. Prior to this, he had been made aware of the huge amounts of wages that were being paid to the working man in America. This was also part of the Canadian dreams where individuals were required to earn a fabulous income that enabled them to sustain themselves as well as their families. As a new immigrant, he is also amazed by the sizes of the fields that surround him. In this sense in addition, he is driven by the Canadian dream to imagine that in the future at least a tenth or a fiftieth of such tracks of land would be within his reach to possess. Subsequently, he does not even dream about returning to Europe. This is the same case for the protagonist in civilization who admires the parking lot at the Zellers County fair where he sees a lot of cars as he says they are fully parked. It is this that forms his Canadian dream which he hopes to live in the future. Niels Lindstedt is a completely new immigrant in Canada. He is a new comer and hence the main protagonist in the story. Over an extended period, he goes through progressive phases of transformation that lead to his total culmination into canadianization. His experience as an immigrant is heartbreaking to any individual since it also leads him to pay very high prices. Niel is uprooted from Sweden and is subsequently re-rooted in Canada. All these experiences are perfectly recorded by the narrator. In general the whole story acts as a representation of the investment made by the author in Canada. This is brought about by the perception of Niel towards his surrounding environment. Thus in relation to the elements present in the Canadian dream, Neils is portrayed as an individual who has the hunger and desire for a new life. In particular, he is shown to have the hope for a new and prosperous future as well as the desire to be given more acknowledgements. Alongside these feelings of prosperity and hope, Neil is also filled with a bit of fear and anxiety. This can be discovered from "He wonders as he looks about while the horses trot briskly over the stubble whether in a few years time this country will seem like home to him.. That is his vision: the vision that has brought him into these broad plains. And that vision is destined to shape his whole life in the future." With this, the author brings about some kind of naturalism to his treatment of the immigrant in Scandinavian. Although it sounds more of an obvious thing today, he had the vision to make a home in the area of Canada. In this sense, this thought is truer in the current world than it was ever. It is thus this great vision that forms an integral part and heart of the immigrant’s story. It is because of this that similarly to the experience that Neils went through, it results in the kind of strength that enables the individual to suffer from personal indignity that may include the loss of voice, language, certainty, culture and structure. Thus, it is from this simple vision that the strength comes to create a language that is new without forsaking the initial language as well as coming up with a new culture and a fresh voice. It is shown through the erasure of names that forms part of the life which the immigrants go through. Thus, it forms part of the narrative associated with that experience. As the mode of this erasure gets to develop with time, it leaves a trace that is similar to that which Greve left when he changed his name to Grove. Immediately, it helps to conceal the actual person who is concealing and changing his or her name and leaves a trace that would make it possible for people to complete the renaming role that had been initiated. One of the similarities brought out between the novel and the poem is that for every immigrant, there are likely to be the same treatment. This is depicted through “Soon I’m no more the hunter but the hunted” (19-20). It indicates the harsh treatments that they have to go through due to their difference. Both of them experience a feel of the new life. Niel feels like he looks like a Canadian when he goes shopping and gets clothes from the shop. It is a similar case for the persona in civilization who after getting absorbed to the ways of the new land also confesses the same feeling. He indicates that he has the feeling of a plastic bauble “at two for a dollar, the 50% discount coat hanging limp and old” (28-31). As opposed to the characters in first day of an immigrant civilization shows that the Canadian dream is completely eroded and can no longer be realized when he talks about two civilizations that have merged and kissed (14). Thus unlike in the case of Niels who although he admires the new life that he has found in Sweden still attempts to maintain his original culture and habits, in civilizations these are completely done away with and a new culture is developed. In particular, in the civilization poem, the Canadian dream is killed and individual immigrants are fully assimilated into the new world. In this case, the immigrant is not strong enough to fight back against the oppressions directed towards the immigrant. This is shown through “and I surrender” (22). The Canadian dream despite all the harshness that is experienced along the way towards it is described as the heavenly hash by Rienzi. This is because it describes the high quality of life that is lived by the aboriginal inhabitants in the area. It is this kind of life that the persona “I” wants to live once he arrives in the new land. This is the lavish and expensive type of life that is referred to in the poem as the “pig tails, cocktail wieners, almost anything that bears a splash tag on its face (24-26). Conclusion Although two authors can focus on the same issue within their texts, these can be presented and brought out in varied ways through which they can lead to completely different meanings and approaches. It is these characteristic that can be realized in the novels first day as an immigrant and civilizations where the different characters bring out different aspects of the Canadian dream. While in one of the texts, the main character partly embraces the new activities and life that he finds in the new land where he arrives as an immigrant, in the other he is fully absorbed within the system. This is because in the first text, the protagonist is able to fight back against the oppressive nature that he faces as an immigrant. However, in the other text, he is overwhelmed by what he goes through and surrenders to the new ways. At the end, while the Canadian dream is fully achieved by one of the characters, it is only partially achieved by the other. Works Cited Canwest News Service. Great Canadian dream failing some immigrants: Study. 2008. Print. Kamboureli, Smaro. Making a difference: Canadian multicultural literature. Toronto; New York: Oxford University Press. 1996. Print. Rienzi, C. Civilization Sri Lanka: Galle, 1925.Print. Grove, P. Frederick. The first day of an immigrant. In tales from the margin. Tbonto: Macmillan. 1946. Print. Read More