Immigration And Canada Term paper

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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...

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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.
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