The Tale of A New York Ghetto- Post #2 – Literature and Immigration

My Experience

My experience reading The Tale of a New York Ghetto by Abraham Cahan felt like a combination of different personal connections coming together. When I read the description of the story in our recommended section, the first thing that came to mind was the connection I felt between the Jewish immigrants in the novel and my own ancestors. My family migrated to America from Russia, Poland, Austria, and Hungary, which is similar to the main character, Jake whose journey was from Russia to America. This novel reminded me of my experiences from my Cultural Food and Cuisine class, as well as my time in Hebrew school. Reading about the traditions and immigrant life in the novel reminded me of learning about my own cultural heritage in those settings.

Classifying My Experience

While I was reading this novel, I felt many experiences. I experienced immersion, connection, and relearning. Immersion is defined as “Absorbing or engrossing involvement in a story. You might feel as though you’ve been swallowed by the story.” At times while reading the novel, I realized I had already learned about the events and experiences the characters were describing. Also, it felt like the main character was speaking directly to me about what he was going through. Secondly, I felt a connection between the family and religion as I mentioned I am Jewish and my family migrated from Europe to America for a better life. Connection is defined as “Feeling linked or bonded to others in community.” I felt that I was able to connect with the Russian immigrants, as my family immigrated from Russia. The storyline of the novel reminded me of when I took a class called Cultural Food and Cuisine, where we researched our heritage and explored the traditions and foods that shaped our family histories. This book reminded me how important it is to express my cultural background and recognize the history of my ancestors migration. I also felt a connection to when I was younger, attending Hebrew school and learning about my culture and speaking Hebrew, which aligned with Jake and his family. Another connection I experienced was in the novel Jake and his family were speaking in broken English, as their first language was Yiddish. In the beginning of the story, Jake addresses the struggle of learning English, and I feel that connects to one of our classes last week when we addressed broken English in one of my classmates novel that they are reading. Relearning is defined as “Learning something you have learned in the past and partially forgotten.” While reading this novel, I was relearning the struggles that immigrants faced coming to America, as well as struggles faced while in America. Jake was first unable to travel to America with his family, and secondly faced hardships learning English and maintain secure, stable housing. This reminded me of my last novel that I read, The Jungle where the main character Jurgis faced similar harsh housing conditions. Also, I feel like I am revisiting and applying what I learned during my experience and tour at the Tenement Museum, where immigrants endured extremely difficult housing conditions.

The Features that Prompted my Experience

In the novel, Jake meets with the scribe to discuss what his wife wrote in her letter. Fanny, his wife explains in the letter that his father passed away. In this part of the novel, I experienced immersion. It felt like I was meeting with Jake and the scribe when the scribe told Jake his father passed away. The author explains the death of his father in an interesting way that reminds me of cultural beliefs in an afterlife.

In chapter 2, the narrator explains how English was the official language of the dance academy, but the language was broken. This connects to my experience of discussing broken English in our class.

In chapter 1, Jake explains that as soon as he has enough money, he will call the installment man to give a deposit for his wife and son to come to America by boat. This quote resonated with me because I know families of immigrants who were unable to move together.

These quotes both resonate with me by feeling a connection as well as immersion. I was able to feel immersion within these quotes as I felt that I was experiencing what Jake and his family were, as well I was able to indirectly relate to Jake and his situation through others’ experiences and my cultural heritage.

Determining the Narrative Technologies Prompting My Experience

Two narrative technologies that have prompted my experience are Almighty Heart and Soliloquy. I could relate to Jake’s personal conflict. How he felt about being separated from his family, struggling to learn English, and trying to balance Old World traditions with life in America—because it mirrors my own reflections on my family history and cultural heritage. As said earlier, my family also immigrated to America not knowing English and not being able to migrate as a family. This connection was especially strong as I thought about families who were unable to migrate together, which reminded me of discussions in my Cultural Food and Cuisine class, expressing our culture and my experiences in Hebrew school learning about Jewish culture and heritage. The story’s focus on Jake’s struggles and I was able to empathize with him, and understanding his personal challenges while connecting them to my own experiences by exploring culture, language, and family traditions. These quotes relate to my experiences of immersion, connection and relearning.