Americanization in the US Immigrants’ Stories

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There is, unfortunately, a great number of poor countries in the world nowadays. That is why, trying to find better conditions for living, people leave their homes and move to some other countries. Living there, they are influenced by the culture of these countries and even follow it, trying to become part of society. Americanization is the process of this kind. Under the influence of society, mass media, pop culture, and films, people adopt the American manner of behavior, tastes, and even some holidays and traditions connected with them. To understand the peculiarities of Americanization better, it is possible to analyze several books devoted to this issue.

The story Bringing Asha Home by Uma Krishnaswami and Jamel Akib is also devoted to this question. However, it describes it from another perspective. The whole story centers around the expectation of one family. They wait for a baby girl to come from India (Krishnaswami and Akib 4). It is obvious that the whole family wants it and they will really love this baby. However, it is also obvious that this little creature will rise in America and obtain all peculiarities of its culture. Moreover, she will take America as her home. Being born in India, she will forget its traditions and customs. That is why it is possible to say that the process of Americanization is also shown in this story.

The next work under analysis is the story Have a Good Day Cafe by Ginger and Frances Park. The story centers around a Korean family that earns money selling food with the help of food cart. It becomes obvious that mother, father, and their son live in America for a long time, while their grandmother has just come here. She misses her home very much, uses a lot of Korean words, and tries to find some similarities between the two countries (Park and Park 5). However, her grandson does not have the same feelings. He considers America to be his home and does not want to come back. The author touches the issue of two homes, however, showing that there is no such problem for a small boy who is already naturalized and accepted peculiarities of another culture, while his grandmother still tries to save Korean traditions.

The story The Favorite Daughter by Allen Say centers around a girl. Her name is Yuriko. She is half Japanese, that is why she has such an unusual name. One day, she brings her photo in cherished kimono, which underlines her onliness and belonging to some other culture. However, children laugh at her, and she tries to refuse Japanese culture. Besides, her father calms her down, explaining peculiarities of their culture and showing that their customs are the thing that makes them unique (Say 7).

The story shows another side of Americanization. The girl is obviously the representative of American culture, as its influence on her is extremely strong. However, she is also taught to be proud of her belonging to Japanese culture. It is possible to say that she will try to save this feeling and her mentality will develop under the influence of two cultures. This girl will be able to call the USA her home, however, Japan will always be the place where her ancestors were born.

Cogitations of a young Chinese girl, who are born in America, about the 4th of July is shown in the story Apple Pie Fourth of July by Janet Wong. The whole story centers around the traditions connected with this very holiday. Small girl tries to explain her parents that some traditional Chinese food is not appropriate at this holiday (Wong 2). Moreover, she thinks that they are not able to understand it as they were not born in America, as she was.

It is obvious, that the book centers around the immigrants and their culture. The author wants to show how children from other countries lose their own culture and become naturalized, accepting some other traditions. The book shows the last phase of Americanization. The girl consider herself to be American and, moreover, she prefers some traditional American customs to Chinese, not thinking about her roots..

The last work devoted to this issue is the story Angel Child, Dragon Child by Michele Surat. The story describes problems connected with adaptation which await immigrants from other countries in the USA. It is very difficult for Ut as she has to understand peculiarities of new culture and language (Surat 7). Having analyzed this story, it is possible to see the first steps of a young girl who tries to understand another culture. This book also shows some general problems which immigrants from other countries have to overcome. Having arrived from another state, it is very difficult for them at the beginning and the process of Americanization can be taken as some kind of mechanism which makes adaptation easier.

Having analyzed all these stories, it is possible to say that immigrants, who live in America, are influenced by its culture and it is impossible to resist it. There are several phases of Americanization, however, children who are born in the USA consider themselves to be representatives of its culture.

Works Cited

Krishnaswami, Uma and Jamel Akib. Bringing Asha Home. New York: Lee & Low Books. 2006. Print.

Park, Frances and Ginger Park. The Have a Good Day Café. New York: Lee & Low Books. 2002. Print.

Say, Allen. The Favorite Daughter. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. 2013. Print.

Surat, Maria. Angel Child, Dragon Child. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1989. Print.

Wong, Janet. Apple Pie Fourth of July. Boston: HMH Books for Young Readers. 2006. Print.

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Americanization in the US Immigrants’ Stories

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