Stories of Immigrants: “Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse

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Introduction

The difficulty of leaving childhood behind in a new nation or while living with parents who are steadfastly attached to the previous one might make leaving childhood behind an even heavier burden for certain teenagers. The powerful collection Come On In Fifteen Stories about Immigration and Finding Home, features short stories from young adult authors who, as seen by their biographical notes, have actually experienced the things they are writing about.

However, when discussing immigration and immigration policy, there are many perspectives that are generally not heard, particularly those of the young people who are most directly impacted by these issues. To investigate the impact of immigration on various immigrants, this presentation will analyze the story, “Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse, whose main characters are children.

Context and ethnic background: “Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse

The story reveals a Western culture, where the narrator exhibits freedom and openness in her conversation with other characters of the story. This is depicted in the conversation of the narrator with her mother in the kitchen. For instance, in the discussion, the narrator expresses freedom of speech and openness by saying, “I’ll put you in an old folk’s home way before that” (Morse, 2020). Consequently, the story is set in a community of different ethnicities, for instance, the narrator’s mother is an American who is married to an Argentine man, living in the United States, with most of the people identified as white non-Hispanics.

Progressively the story exhibits a liberal culture rather than a conservative culture where there are a lot of restrictions and boundaries that limit or guide the interaction of children and parents. This is revealed by the narrator when she pitches her sister saying “Dad Ita wants to talk to you”(Morse, 2020). Ita is the nickname of the narrator’s grandmother. And in this context, it is liberal unlike the Asian states, where a child cannot be allowed to call elderly people with nicknames.

Summary: “Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse

“Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl who moved to the United States from Venezuela at the age of five. In the U.S., she was forced to make English the only way of communication. This made her forget her original language, Spanish, a situation that makes her feel left out whenever their parents converse in Spanish. She even becomes jealous that her older sister remembers how to speak Spanish and can converse easily with their grandparents.

Similarities or differences between “Hard to Say” by Sharon Morse and other stories

The story shares a sense of denial of opportunity, brought by the factors of immigration, with other stories such as “All The Colors of Goodbye” where a family had to leave one of their children behind because he was over 21 years of age. Similarly, the story shares a similarity with my own story. Being forced to flee my country (Syria) because of war, compelling me to say goodbye to my loved ones, was very painful and traumatic. It puts me in an anxious and disturbing situation whenever I remember my loved ones, whom I am not sure when I will meet again. The same anxiety and horror are exhibited by the narrator when she states “Dad says something I don’t understand and points down at the threshold, and I realize he’s telling them to watch their step.” (Morse, 2020). The story also shares a sense of isolation and discrimination that permeates all the stories in the book.

Contribution to understanding the immigrant experience

The narrator reveals that they are not stable emotionally, the situation in Venezuela is getting worse and they are really worried about the loved ones they left there. She paints a picture of helplessness and hopelessness when she says, “I ask, feeling more helpless than ever before.” (Morse, 2020). Consequently, immigration has adversely affected the social relationship between the narrator and her grandparents. She cannot have adequate conversations with them since she cannot speak Spanish anymore, this indicates a traumatic experience for the narrator as she feels left out. She narrates, “But then he switches right back, turning to Ita, and I’m back to not knowing what in the world anyone is talking about.” (Morse, 2020). Similarly from the story, I get to understand the change in lifestyle and cultural experience that immigrants face. For instance, in the story, the narrator argues that most of their favorite Spanish dishes were not available in the United States as frequently as they were in Venezuela. On the other hand, the story unearths tough economic situations often experienced by immigrants. For instance, the narrator indicates that her Dad did not have enough money to buy her a car on her sixteenth birthday as was the previous norm.

Favorite moments in the story

My favorite moment in this story is when the narrator and her mother are having lovely and humorous charts in the kitchen. It shows a sense of love and strong intimacy between the mother and the daughter. These moments create scenes of happiness, enjoyment, hope, love, and fulfillment.

Least moments

The most undesirable moment in the story is when the narrator locks herself in the bathroom and cries profusely saying, “Of course, she doesn’t understand why I’m upset. She hasn’t lost what I’ve lost”(Morse, 2020). This shows the mental torture and emotional damage that the narrator is undergoing. Similarly, the call creates tension and traumatic imaginations that cause anxiety and depression.

Conclusion

By emphasizing the most innocent victims, the incredible artworks in this presentation reflect the human side of the immigrant experience. This demands government action to implement an immigration policy that goes beyond facts, politics, and nationalism since making oneself part of the story without implementing these policies will be a challenging role of being one’s activist. Therefore whoever encounters comparable circumstances should choose to find original solutions rather than lament and wait for unpromising hope.

References

Morse, S. (2020). Hard to say. In A. Asaid, (Eds.), Come On In 15 Stories About Immigration and Finding Home (pp. 165-178). Inkyard press

Shutterstock, (n.d.) U.S.A immigration royalty-free images. [Photographs]. Web.

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