The Good Lie How They Lived Analysis

When the story of immigration is told, whether in movies or in print, there is the danger that the complex lives and motivations of immigrants will be reduced to a single story. The Good Lie tells the story of a group of Sudanese refugees, orphaned by war, who travel through war-stricken lands, take shelter in a refugee camp and eventually, come to the United States., where a white immigration worker, played by Reese Witherspoon, assists them in finding employment and ends up helping them reunite with other members of their family. “How They Lived” is a short narrative about what is gained and what is lost in immigrating to the United States. Both The Good Lie and “How They Lived” show the struggles that immigrants face, both internal and external.

The Good Lie, which is really the story of four refugees from Sudan,

The main characters are not only victims of horrible violence, once they finally escape the refugee camp, they are thrust into an unfamiliar and at times hostile environment. The idea of America as the land of opportunity and wealth is another good lie. Little attention is given to the difficulties of adapting - other than using it for comedy - the trauma inflected by war and constant losses, pain of the loss of culture, and the importance of maintaining that culture, especially through names and language. In The Good Lie, the refugees constantly sing chants, look at pictures, and remind themselves of their culture and land, but it feels as if this is just to give the film color. In this respect, the chapter titled “How They Lived” is much more representative of the true immigrant experience. People like the narrator sacrifice everything to get to America, only to find that they are unwelcome and relegated to menial labor. The author uses the repetition, “illegal, and illegal, illegal” to emphasize the fact that many immigrants are seen as illegal, regardless of their actual