Comparing the psyche of immigrants as depicted in the novels Call it Essay

Comparing the psyche of immigrants as depicted in the novels Call it Sleep By Henry Roth (1934) and Bread Givers by Anzia Yizierska (1925) - Essay Example But these historical migrations were triggered by single dimension grounds. As the modern era arrived into the scene it was found that the act of migration was the cause of a web structure that contained a multi strata formation and is far more complex than the previous historical migrations. This complexity developed in the minds of the immigrants themselves. This is particularly depicted in the novels "Call it Sleep" By Henry Roth written in 1934 and "Bread Givers" written by Anzia Yizierska in 1925. 'Bread Givers' written by Anzia Yezierska and 'Call It Sleep' written by Henry Roth each would give us unique perspectives on the lives of immigrants in the earliest years of the twentieth century. The comparisons between the two are quite interesting, as the contrasts would also be. The settings are similar; the families which are central figures in each book are far from that in the numbers of members and the areas they would come from. The texts enable the reader the ability to almost sense the differences and similarities between Sara Smolinsky and young David as they live their lives in the New York area. Comparing their life experiences and then contrasting their ideals of the life they would in America would indeed be intriguing. Call It Sleep exemplifies Henry Roth's fascination with modernist ... As a cultural portrait, Call It Sleep paints a vivid picture of immigrant life in early twentieth century New York, specifically that of the very large immigrant Jewish population. As a commentary upon the struggles of a minority group, Call It Sleep offers a poignant tale of a young boy and his often unsettling experiences both at home and in his community. On the contrary, Bread Givers, Anzia Yezierska's autobiographical novel, endures for the way it relates universal truths about the poverty and despair of new immigrants to America at the turn of the century. Within that universality, Yezierska's voice emerges as strong, female, and idiosyncratic as it reveals the particulars of her characters' inner lives. Like many of her female protagonists, Yezierska immigrated to New York's Lower East Side in her early teens. She was born in around Warsaw in the early 1880s - the exact year is not known. Her older brother Meyer had immigrated to America a few years earlier and had saved enough money to bring his parents and seven siblings to New York. Like many immigrants who passed through Ellis Island, Meyer was renamed, and Max Meyer set out to reinvent himself accordingly. Anzia, called Harriet Meyer when she joined him, later reclaimed her identity and took back her given name. "Bread Givers" can be regarded as a source of cultural and social history because, even though it is fictionalized, it gives rich details of life in the early 20th century and illustrates many social conditions. It should be noted that the book is not a primary history source, but rather a secondary source, full of facts that would be of immense value to get a notion of the insight and the psyche of an immigrant at that juncture of the period in American history. This book is the story of a young