Immigration And Canada
It is a fact that almost all of the people in Canada are immigrants, or
come
from immigrant descent. If it were not for the millions of people who
have fled
to Canada in hope of a better life, Canada would never have
prospered into what
it is today. As a result of this fact, it is hard to
believe that immigrants are
still faced with many hardships when they enter
Canada. Most immigrants have
good intentions in mind when coming to a new
country. Immigrants coming to
Canada believe that they will be able to
keep their culture, become successful
and prosper. These misleading hopes set
the immigrant up for a life of
continuous disappointment. Canadian Literature
portrays the immigrant experience
in a negative light. The Canadian
experience for immigrants appears to be
programmed for failure. Immigrants
try to adopt a new identity in hope that this
will enable them to succeed in
the future. Venturing to new lands often compels
immigrants to isolate
themselves from society, by holding onto their own
traditions and
disregarding the new culture. Immigrants who seek to become
successful in
Canada are often let down by what they have found, and are left
feeling
fearful, desolate and helpless. Immigrant characters in Canadian
literature
often express a fear of losing their identity and culture. For
most
immigrants, culture is the only thing that truly belongs to them when
they come
to a new country. In the novel The Black Madonna by Frank Paci,
Assunta Barrone
is one of the main characters who has immigrated from Italy
to a small town in
Northern Ontario. Her refusal to adapt or change
herself in any way to become
more ‘Canadian’ exemplifies her desire to keep
her Italian heritage. "It
had been a long time since she had stepped off that
train with her dowry trunk.
And in all that time she had never ceased to
puzzle him. He didn’t know
whether she had purposely refused to adapt to the
new ways or if she was
incapable of doing so. She was certainly stubborn. She
had strange old-country
customs that she insisted on maintaining even though
they were primitive and
embarrassing" (Paci 11). Assunta’s desire to keep her
customs was what
helped to preserve her Italian identity. By keeping her
identity Assunta felt
like her homeland was somehow constantly with her. The
poem "Alien" by Mary
Elizabeth Colman also exemplifies the immigrants
fear of losing their identity.
"Dear hills of home, why did I leave your
arms?/ How can I love this vast,
clamorous land?/ Whose noisy people hold me
in contempt?" (Colman 9-11). This
immigrant is in fear of the new land which
they have come to, and is afraid of
the people around them. Because
immigrants hold their culture so close to them
when they travel to new lands,
they defend it with every ounce of their being.
Without culture or
identity immigrants are defenceless in a new country. The
immigrant in
Canadian literature is often regretful of leaving their homeland
because of
the disappointments they discover about Canada. Most immigrants
believe that
getting a Canadian passport and citizenship is their key to
unlocking ‘the
good life’ In Canadian literature the opposite of this occurs
because the
ideal of what Canada is does not meet it’s reality. This is best
exemplified
through the short story "Hunky" by Hugh Garner and the poems
"Land of
Opportunity" by F.R. Scott and "I Fight Back" by Lillian Allen.
In the
story "Hunky" the main character Hunky is a German immigrant working
in the
tobacco fields for a very arrogant employer. Hunky wants nothing more
than to
become a Canadian citizen because he feels that having his citizenship
is the
key to obtaining ‘the good life’. "He placed great stress on the
fact that he
hoped to become a Canadian citizen in the fall. His longing for
citizenship
was not only gratitude and patriotism towards the country that had
given him
asylum, but a craving for status as a recognized human being"
(Garner 135).
The poem "Land of Opportunity" by F.R. Scott exemplifies the
disappointment
of the Canadian status. "Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce/These are
privileged names in my country/But I AM ILLEGAL HERE."
(Scott, 2-4). The poem
goes on to say "I come to Canada/And found the Doors/
of Opportunities Well
Guarded " (7-9). This poem expresses the immigrant
woman’s disappointments
found when she came to Canada. In the poem "I Fight
Back" by Lillian
Allen, the main character expresses the deep anger immigrants
have instilled
against Canada. "Got involved in a Communist demonstration,/And
is now being
deported by the Canadian Government./This will teach these foreign
reds/ The
sort of country they’ve come to." (Allen, l9-12). Immigrants are
often left
disappointed because their images of Canada do not meet with the
ideal and
truth of what the country is like. Immigrants in Canadian literature
are
constantly struggling with denying their past in order to succeed in
the
future. In Joy Kowaga’s "Obason" Naomi’s uncle struggles with
his
identity. A families silence about the force of the interment of the
Japanese in
Vancouver, compels Naomi to gather information on her dead
uncle’s that has
been responsible for changing her life. Naomi’ s uncle was
of Japanese sailor
whose ships had been taken over by the R.C.M.P. While
Naomi searched through her
grandfather’s belongings she found a box box
filled with her grandfathers old
boat building tools and a shoe box
containing a document from the R.C.M.P. The
document stated that Naomi’s
uncle must leave his area and report to the local
Registrar of Enemy
Aliens where he will later be placed in an interment camp.
Even though,
Naomi’s uncle was a Canadian citizen, the Canadian government
took over his
ships because of his Japanese origin. Naomi’s uncle was robbed
not only of
his ships, but so of his morals and ethics. By hiding his past in
shoe boxes
he wanted nothing to with his Japanese origin. A letter was also
found from
the Office of the Custodian from the Japanese Evacuation Section,
stating
that it was not his fault nor the police, nor the men who rioted against
him
that his ships had been taken over and he was placed in an interment
camp.
The Canadian government was just doing their job (67). During World
War II
injustice was the only thing that was constant in a world full of
chaos.
Naomi’s uncle developed an inner conflict in coping with his
identity. Hiding
all of possessions that resembled his past, Naomi’s uncle
adopted a false
identity, which he thought was the only key to sucess in the
future. Immigrants
try to adopt a new identity because they feel this is the
only way they can
succeed in the unaccustomed lands. Although immigrants
struggle with maintaining
their identity, they are often robbed of their
heritage by unbeatable forces.
War and prejudice force immigrants to
adhere to the ways of their new
surroundings and loose their old traditions.
Joy Kowaga depicts this immigrant
experience through Naomi’s uncle’s life
experiences. Being robed of his
ships and placed in an interment camp because
of his heritage, forced Naomi’s
uncle to pull away from his past. Naomi
follows in the footsteps of her uncle,
and tries to pull away from her
heritage also. Naomi’s denial of her past is
exemplified in the quote, " Our
past is a s clotted as old webs hung in dark
attics , still sticky and
hovering waiting for us to adhere and submit or
depart" ( 54). Naomi’s past
wants to cling to her however she detaches from
herself from her culture by
refusing to carry on the traditions of her Japanese
heritage. Naomi’s
opposing views against her Japanese origin were moulded
during her adolescent
years during World War II, when Canadians feared that the
Japanese would
attack Canada just as they had bomed the United States at Pearl
Harbour.
Leaving their past behind, immigrants struggle to survive by any
means
possible. Naturally human’s are constant striving to survive. This
constant
struggle compels human’s to change their culture, in order to
contiue and
flourish. Immigrants in Canadian Literature are also faced with
feelings of
isolation from society and the land. The isolation that
immigrants experience is
usually isolation from society . Assunta Barrone’s
character in The Black
Madonna is an example of how immigrants are
socially isolated from society. In
the case of Assunta, however, this
isolation is self-inflicted. The fact that
Assunta never really left her
small Italian neighbourhood in the west end of
Sault Ste. Marie was the
reason why she was socially isolated. Assunta does not
interact with anyone
other than the Italian women in her neighbourhood.
"Assunta had never
gone beyond short Sunday car rides to the outskirts of the
Sault." (Paci
7). Even though Assunta was an ocean and a half away from her
homeland of
Italy, she was still isolated from society. "It seemed she had
gone from one
Italian village in Marche to another one in Northern Ontario-the
west end."
(11). Assunta’s refusal to learn the English language, also
contributed to
her isolation from society. In the poem "Alien" by Mary
Elizabeth Colman,
the main character also feels isolated by Canada’s land.
"I AM afraid.
This land is strange to me,/So new, so fierce, so large, with
noisy folk."
(Colman lines1-2). The immigrant is isolated by the land because
it is so new
for them. The poem goes on to say "How can I love this vast
clamorous
land"(line 10). The main character portryed in the poem "Alien"
feels isolted
in the unfamiliar land. Being in forgein surroundings, leaves the
immigrant
feeling helpless and isolated. Throughout Canadian Literature
isolation has
an extreme effect upon the developement of an individual’s
character.
Immigrants in Canadian literature will at one point be faced with
isolation,
but must think positively to overcome these feelings. Canadian
literature
shows immigrant children to be embarrassed and shameful of their
heritage. It
seems as though all children of immigrants try their hardest to
rise above
and create a better life for themselves than what their parents
before them
had. This is evident through the character of Marie in the novel
The
Black Madonna. Marie works diligently at her school work because she
feels that
her school smarts will help her rise above her past, and they do
when she gets
accepted to university. "She would show her soon enough that
she could do
things alone. Go to Toronto. Become a doctor even. There were
even endless
possibilities once she got away. She would be so glad to be rid
of them all.
She’d show them that she didn’t need them" (Paci 79). This
quote shows the
hostility that Marie holds towards her heritage. Most
Canadian works on the
immigrant portray immigrant children as being shameful
of their past and longing
to escape the reality of who they really are.
Feelings of emptiness and
helplessness seem to be inevitable for the
immigrant in Canadian literature. For
the immigrant Canada is a land of
reoccuring disappointments. Canadian
Literature is filled with failure
because of immigrants origin. The novel The
Black Madonna is a good
example in showing the many negative aspects of an
immigrants life. The main
character Assunta portrays the many disappointments
immigrants are faced with
when travelling to new lands. The short story
"Hunky" and poems "I Fight
Back", "Alien", and "Land of
Opportunity" are works which portray the
immigrant as a victim. "Hunky",
"The Land of Opportunity" and "I Fight
Back "portray characters who are
disappointed with the immigrant experience.
The immigrant struggle with identity
is exemplified in the short story
"Obason" by Joy Kowaga. Denying his
Japanese origin Naomi’s uncle hoped
to become successful in Canada. Canadian
works depict immigrant children as
being embarrassed or shameful of their past.
Marie’s character in The
Black Madonna and Naomi’s character in ‘Obason’
exemplify the immigrant
children’s dishonourable attitude towards their
culture. It is unfortunate
that immigrants must experience hardships during
their time in new lands.
Immigrating to a new country should be an exceptional
opportunity enabling
foreigners to become auspicious. Unfortunately, the only
lesson that
immigrants embark upon when inhabiting among Canada’s vast land
is:
Endurance, Survival, No Victory. In the past other Canadians made
great
sacrifices so that we today can enjoy the freedom , the quality of
life, and the
ezdard of living that we have. Hopefully, in time, immigrants
will feel more
comfortable with life in new lands and adapt to the constant
culture changes in
the world.
Bibliography
Allen, Lillian. " I
fight Back." Canadian Poets. Canada: Little Brown and
Co., 1970. Colman,
Mary Elizabeth. "Alien". An Anthology of Canadian
Literature in English
.Canada: Oxford University Press, 1990. Garner, Hugh. "
Hunky." Canadian
Poets. Canada: Little, Brown and Co., 1970. Kowaga, Joy. "Obason."
An
Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. Canada: Oxford University
Press,
1990. Paci, Frank. The Black Madonna. Canada: Oberon Press, 1982.
Scott, F.R.
" The Land of Opportunity." Canadian Content. Canada:
Harcourt Brace &
Company,
1992.