The Hybrid Status of Immigrants - Essay Example

04 June The Hybrid Status of Immigrants Every human being belongs to a unique culture, acquiring certain traits and qualities that are inculcated into him or her by the tradition into which the individual is born. When a person happens to live in another community, which has different characteristics than the one he or she is born into, the individual becomes forced to accept some traits of that community and thus assumes a mixed personality. Immigrants, who migrate from their nation of origin to another country in the pursuit of education, job opportunities or business purposes, hence will become hybrids as they latently possess the characteristics of their original culture and absorb some aspects of the new culture.

While this transformation has its rewards, it plunges them into a state of belonging neither here nor there and forces them to live between two cultures and worlds. The essays, “Mother Tongue,” by Amy Tan and, “To the Border,” by Richard Rodriguez, deftly illustrate the torment of immigrants as they deal with the consequences and dangers of living between worlds. Amy Tan dwells on the issues that language creates for an average immigrant in the new land, where he or she migrates to. Most of the times either they are unable to understand the mechanics of the new language or they cannot completely eschew the nuances of their original language and its cultural impacts.

Tan, from her personal experience show that the people in America look down on immigrants, who are not capable of speaking the language as the natives do and hardly listen to them or assist them. Her mother, who speaks “broken or fractured English” in the US, confronts a lot of problems because she cannot converse with the natives in a befitting style (Tan, p.2). Her stockbroker ignores her demands and delays sending her the check because she is not able to talk to him properly. Similarly, when she approaches her hospital for her CT scan, the hospital does not show her any “sympathy when she told them she was anxious to know the exact diagnosis” (Tan, p.2). This, again, is due to the reason that her English is not good enough.

But when her daughter goes and explains the things, they apologize for the lost CT scan. Thus, it transpires in an English speaking country, the natives expect the immigrants also to speak perfect English, to receive attention. Some of the immigrants, however, are not able to adapt totally to the new language due to constraints of culture and remain in a world in between. Thus, they are forced confront many challenges due to their status of being hybrids, who are neither “here” nor “there.

” On the other hand, in his essay, “To the Border,” Richard Rodriguez shows how cultural differences make the immigrants struggle in the land of their dreams. According to the author, the transit of Mexicans to Los Angeles is not merely “a journey from Spanish to English” but is also one from “the familiar, the erotic, the intimate” to the “repellent usted of strangers’ eyes” (Rodriguez, p.401). Here the author is emphasizing the anguish of those immigrants who feel alienated in the new land as the natives look down upon them with hostility.

On the one hand, they need the money to send back their home by living in most minimal comforts as in the case of Fidel, who sends “everything else” “back to Mexico” to his family. Thus, he remains, in a true sense, belonging neither to America nor to Mexico. In the same vein, the author’s mother believes that though Mexico is a poor country, “the ice cream (there) is creamier than here” (Rodriguez, p.402). However, she puts up with living in America, while cherishing the memories of her motherland.

This disposition, of being neither here, nor there, is due to the reason that she is forced to live in the US due to her peculiar circumstances. Thus, it becomes obvious that immigrants always live in the host nation with a sense of anguish and they are not able to remain uniquely loyal to one culture. Once they migrate to a new land, they are compelled to adapt to a new situation, speaking a language which is not their own, accepting a culture to which they do not belong. Thus, they remain torn between the two worlds, accepting part of each, but belonging to none.

Works Cited Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. Three Penny Review. 1990. Web. 04 June 2012. http://shawnashapiro.com/courses/wrpr0102a-s10/Tan_MotherTongue.pdf Rodriguez, Richard. How TV Stole Rock’s Soul. Mexico’s New Revolution: Mother Jones. Mega Food. 1988. Web. 30 April 2012.