Jasmine Walker ENG 4340 Ethnic American Literature Dr.

Su-ching Huang February 27, 2012

Analyzing the concept and relationship of Assimilation and Alienation in Soap and Water and In the American Society The concept and relationship between assimilation and alienation seems to be very dominant in Ethnic American Literature. The short stories Soap and Water written by Anzia Yezierska, and In the American Society by Gish Jen all have a dynamic relationship with either assimilation and alienation, assimilation and resistance. These relationships are very important in understanding Ethnic American Literature. In the story Soap and Water it is very evident that the relationship that is illustrated is assimilation and alienation. The narrator of the story is yearning to experience the American dream and be assimilated into American culture. An example of this is shown when she says I had come a refugee from the Russian pogroms, aflame with the dreams of America. (Yezierska 1194-1195) Another example of the assimilation that the narrator undergoes is at the end of the story when Yezierska writes I felt the joy..I was changed and the world was changed. My past was the forgotten night....America! I found America. (Yezierska 1197) Both examples found in the story show that the narrator was assimilated into American culture. Furthermore, alienation was also something that was very evident throughout the story Soap and Water. One example of alienation in the story is when Miss Whiteside with-held the narrators diploma and the narrator says I felt the suppressed wrath of all the unwashed .....I

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had suffered the cruelty of their cleanliness and the tyranny of their culture to a breaking point..I saw clean, immaculate, spotless Miss Whiteside shrivel and tremble and cower before me, as I had shriveled and trembled and cowered before her for so many years. (Yezierska 1193) Another example of the alienation that is presented in this story is when the narrator says I the unclean one, am actually fashioning the pedestal of their cleanliness. (Yezierska 1194) These examples of alienation shows how alone the narrator is once she comes to America. The process of being both assimilated and alienated is seen throughout the story and its apparent that it is something that all immigrants tend to go through during their transition into American society. Similarly, Gish Jens short story In the American Society also exhibits the concept of assimilation and alienation like the story Soap and Water. Jens story has many examples in where the characters are assimilated into American society. One example of assimilation that is shown is Mrs. Chang didnt fully accept American culture in fact she would tell her daughters that they were copycats. But once she became a manager at a supermarket and learnt how to do certain things on her own she had new ideas about herself, and about America, and about what was what in general (Jen 159) and it goes on to say the different things Mrs. Chang has an interest in one of those things is the country club. This example illustrates how most immigrants may possess timidness once they come to America but soon becomes assimilated into American culture. Also in the story In the American Society the concept of alienation is also very obvious in the story. One of the examples of alienation in the story is at the party when Callie one of the Chang daughters says Mrs. Lardner came by to bewail her shortage of servers. Her caterers were criminals, I agreed; and the next thing I knew I was handing out bits of marine life, making

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the rounds as amicably as I could. (Jen 168) From this quote it would seem as if Camilla became a server for the party which seems very odd since her and her family was guest and none of the other guest was asked to serve food. It is evident that she was thrust into a role in which she was unprepared. Mrs. Lardner alienates her by letting her serve food even though she was a guest. Another example of alienation shown in the story is also apparent at the party when Jeremy is talking to Mr. Chang. During this conversation it is very obvious that Jeremy is being very rude and obnoxious to Mr. Chang. In the story Jeremy has a bottle in which he cant seem to open. Jeremy states I have this bottle here..you see it refuses to do my bidding. I bid it open sesame, please and it does nothing (Jen 168) then he goes on to say to Mr. Chang would you have a word with it. (Jen 168) This is an example of alienation because its almost as if Jeremy is trying to force Mr. Chang to open the bottle for him as if it is Mr. Changs job. In a sense it can be said that Jeremy sees Mr. Chang as his own personal worker who is to do whatever it is that he wants done. Additionally, Mrs. Lardner also alienates the Chang family when shes talking with Mrs. Chang and states Why, Id be honored and delighted to write you people a letter. (Jen 162) She calls the Changs you people as if they something from a different world and are so different from her almost as if they were of a different species. Therefore, the relationship between assimilation and alienation is a prevailing idea that it is found in the stories Soap and Water and In the American Society. Based on the stories from Anzia Yezierska and Gish Jen it is very apparent that assimilation and alienation isnt something that only one culture experiences. These authors come from very different backgrounds and have different cultural aspects yet one thing that their stories prove is that once

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an immigrant enters into America they will be alienated by certain people and eventually assimilate into the American culture and society.

Works Cited
Jen, Gish. "In The American Society." Brown, Wesley and Amy Ling. Imagining America: Stories From The Promised Land. New York: Persea, 2002. 158-171. Yezierska, Anzia. "Soap and Water." ENGL 4340, Blackboard. PDF file