Immigrants In Miral Al-Tahawy's Brooklyn Heights

As Robertson Davies stated, “ Canada is not going to have a national literature in the mode of those European lands where a long history has bound the people together, and where a homogeneous racial inheritance has given them a language, customs, and even a national dress of their own.” 2 We need to look at the work of Canadian authors who have come here from different backgrounds. Connecting with our multicultural student body is really important! As Canadians, we are lost in a sea of international influences – we hardly know who we are. And we do this without realizing it.

Into the Wild Life in the wild is not for everyone, as Chris McCandless himself proved. In the novel Into the Wild Chris was driven by anger and curiosity; always enjoyed nature and the outdoors. His family was one of the reasons why he chose to isolate himself from the real world, he needed to experience new feelings other than the hatred he’s had throughout his entire life. On his journey he was able to accomplish a number of things: peace of mind, travel, and write a book. What Chris did not expect was for him to die on his journey, but rather have it help him grow and gain new experiences.

This quote showcases how Huck only wanted to create his own rules and not have to answer to anyone else before he starting living with Widow Douglas. He eventually learned the new strict rules of the Widow and followed them most of the time. He also started to like the idea that the rules did not change all the time. However, when Mark Twain stated that Huck still sleeps in the woods at times, it indicates that he still went back to the rules he used to live by at times. Possibly Twain himself struggled with switching between two locations in his life that had completely different rules than what he was familiar with.

Stemming from Esperanza’s previous discomfort with her family’s low socio-economic status, her statement reflects a commonly experienced effect of poverty, determination to pursue dreams. Again Esperanza demonstrates a strong desire to escape the societal and economic bonds she was born into in the vignette “Born Bad”. Her dream that “One day I’ll jump out of my skin” (Cisneros 60), while not about her specifically owning a house, still communicates her ambition to change. Additionally, the use of the words “will” and “one day” in both of her aspirations demonstrate Esperanza’s certainty

Despite having an arduous life in Canada, he has in part fulfilled his idea of a personal heaven by living in an urban and developed setting; and primarily escaping the judgments of the apathetic islanders. Yet, this idea of a perfect life is incomplete; it lacks “some sweet island woman with whom he’d share his life, of having children and later buying a house” Many times in life, future gratification in unforeseeable, and occasionally — such as in the instance of Max — sacrifices may result in a sense of disillusioned inaptitude. Within this excerpt of the short story “Mammita’s Garden Cove” by Cyril Dabydeen, the author’s complex attitude towards place is conveyed by Dabydeen’s use of repetition, diction, and

In the “Poisonwood Bible”, by Barbara Kingsolver, there are particular elements of exile that drive Leah Price to finding her true self, each leading her further away from the previous exile status and closer to her true self. Such instances of exile are seen as a placeholder for the next instance in which she descends into her true self and departs from her “home”. For example, when she leaves America with her family, she knows little-to-nothing about what the Congo has-in-store for her. As she loses her connection with America, she begins to rely more on Nathan Price, her father, strengthening the bond that they already had, which only leads to the imminent exile that she must face next. Her father’s mischievous behavior creates numerous circumstances that test

Israelis now inhabit their ancestral lands and have violently displaced this population of Arabs, causing diaspora. As Susan Abulhawa is a diasporic Palestinian herself, the novel Mornings In Jenin is an understandably hard-to-read narrative of a fictionalized but realistic Palestinian family – all who suffer from being extradited from their own familial homes and cities, only to become a refugee on their own land or in countries far away. The concept of diaspora has been also a sensitive issue with Jewish people, thus motioned to create the state of Israel, over another populated country. Abulhawa’s experience was reflected onto these characters, particularly Hasan and Amal, both of which were not able to find a permanent and secure place to call home, harnessing her feelings of diaspora that would make many people understand the feeling of displacement and unjustified

Immigrants in America seems to have a difficult life settling down and finding pleasure in life. When immigrants moved to America, they had great dreams about their lives. However, when they got to the land of dreams they find life to be very different and far from their expectations. The immigrants cannot live a free life that make them feel proud of their lives. For example, the narrator in “The Word Love” lives a hideous life.

The caste system also makes any communication between castes forbidden. As Kali’s husband says, “Their life is theirs and yours yours; neither change nor exchange is possible” (Markandaya 48). What he means by this is that the caste system will never change, so neither will the challenges they face in their lives. The caste system keeps Rukmani and the lower class in poverty and growing more poor because of India’s beliefs. Ever since growing up and watching her sisters have stunning weddings, Rukmani could not wait for one of her own.

After seeing a poem start like this who wouldn’t want to go more into depth as to see why Larkin would make such a bold statement like that. When I finished the first stanza it gave me the impression that Larkin may have had some resentment towards his parents. After saying that they “fuck you up” he goes on to say that even if it was not intentional they still do without even noticing and they do it by giving you their faults and add extra just for you. After reading that stanza I thought back to my childhood and all the blessings and opportunities I’ve had.

From my personal experience, I believe that Canada offers a less stressful healthcare system than the United States. I’m a Canadian citizen and was hospitalized a few times in a local hospital in Toronto, Ontario and I never had to stress about getting the care I needed. On no occasion, did I ever have to stress about paying any additional expenses for hospital care in Canada. Now that I live in the United States, my friends and family struggle everyday to pay for their healthcare along with the substantially high deductibles. Also, my friends and family worry that they can go bankrupt in the event of an-foreseen health issue (Nader, 2013).

The importance of sports was high for Shawn and his family and he was raised in a stern house that demanded respect and was in a way “old fashioned”. Shawn states he is part of the cultural norm and hasn’t really deviated from the cultural norms of Canada. I asked Shawn a variety of questions having to do with culture to try and get a better feel on how Canadian and American culture is

“I might not look like an aboriginal but my looks don’t authenticate who I am, my family and my culture. When someone sees me and hears that fact that I’m known as an elder for this community, it challenges their perceptions or stereotypes of what an aboriginal person should look like,” Learning said, speaking via Skype from his home in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L. “People tend to accuse us for wanting benefits but we don’t need benefits if we have our land. I’m very proud of my ancestors and what they went through to protect our land and I will continue to fight for it.” Originally from Cartwright, Learning moved to Happy Valley-Goose Bay when he was a teenager and has resided there ever since.

Furthermore, his book talks about the revival of the American community spirit and illustrates how we as a society have steadily moved away from meaningful connections with family, friends, and neglected our sense of community with our fellow man. Putman also describes what we can do to get back to our roots of societal togetherness through volunteerism and other civic duties and, in turn, instill a deep sense of cohesive relationships for future generations of Americans. Putman has written numerous publications about the steady decline in American

Although Canada is known to be multicultural and inclusive, I have always faced a small feeling of isolation among the strong Western and Oriental stereotypes. For this project, I decided to display the “boxes”/stereotypes people often place me in, through a triptych. Starting from the left, I chose to show the perspectives my relatives in Malaysia (and the rest of the world) view Canada from. Stereotypes exaggerated by media display Canada as cold and lonely, yet peaceful.