Hamlin Garland and Abraham Cahan both dedicated themselves to chronicling the difficulties encountered by immigrants, working people, and others who were often neglected in the pages of literary magazines. Although their characters and settings are quite different, what do you see in common between the work of these writers?
Some interesting websites:
A history of the Daily Forward, Cahan’s newspaper
A photo essay of Garland’s boyhood home in Iowa
February 11, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I find there relatability common between the authors. Readers find themselves pulling for the main characters in the book and wanting them to succeed. When they suffer or are faced with obstacles we want them to succeed. At times we may not agree with the main purpose of the novel, like arranged marriage, but at that time it was acceptable. Both authors appeal to many audiences and they cover important issues that people are attracted to.
February 11, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Beside the ovbious setting differences, the basic plot seems to be quite similar between the two stories. Both show the immigrant as a male father-figure and in both cases they seem to be working hard to give their child/wife and children a better life than what they had. In both stories it appears that they have succeeded. The one character fixed up the house and farm and made the money to buy it and the other obtained a highly sought after husband for his daughter with the riches that he has acquired from his jobs. In both cases the characters are tricked by an “American” character (or idea). The American land owner in the first story tricks the immigrant with the “specific details” of their agreement. In the second story the daughter tricks her soon-to-be-husband into taking on a more “American” role. She requires him to study to become a doctor and acclimate himself more with the culture (representing a more American idea that destorys the father’s dreams). Both stories also leave the reader feeling like the character has lost all hope, and give no real indication of what happens next/if they over come these obstacles.
February 12, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I think that both of the stories have a theme of working through things even when faced with obstacles. Both of the main characters faced obstacles while they were trying to reach their goals, but they were so passionate about gaining (land and a bridegroom) that they didn’t let anything get in their way. Also, both the characters didn’t get exactly what they wanted in the end. In “Lion’s Paw”, the main character was forced to pay twice as much for his land as originally offered, but he bought it anyway in order to have a place for his wife and children to live. I think one of the other reasons that he bought it was because since he had already worked so hard, he might as well put in even more effort to actually buy the land. In the “Bridegroom” Shaya turned out wanting to be a doctor (thanks to the daughter) which is exactly what the father didn’t want. When the two get married at the courthouse, the father is very angry, but he decides go go along with it in the end because after all, he just wanted his daughter to be married, even if it wasn’t to a man with the right profession. Although the settings were completely different as were the situations, these two stories were very comparable, making the reading more interesting.
February 12, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Both stories present lower class citizens fighting an uphill battle to capture a somewhat equal place in a vicious society. Garlands story shows us how a Midwestern couple would take in mud-covered strangers on a snowy evening just because it is the right thing to do. Through hard work and dedication, the family achieves a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction- which makes their dream home even less obtainable. Cahan shows us a similar story, but in this instance Asriel forces Flora into a marriage she doesn’t want, but in the end she has what she wants. I think both stories show us the uncertainties associated with life during that time period. Strict traditions and family expectations influenced everything from where they lived to whom they would marry.
February 12, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Although Garland and Cahan’s writing are distinct and separate from one another, there are many similarities brought out through the meaning of their independent writings. Garland’s writing takes place in the midwest, while Cahan’s takes place on the east coast; despite the significant distance between both of the settings, the struggles the characters endure are similar because both are facing assimilation/poverty issues within the same nation. In “Under the Lion’s Paw,” the Haskins family faces poverty until they seemingly receive a gift from heaven until they realize that their landlord is simply greedy and unthoughtful of those who reside and work on his land. In Cahan’s “The Imported Bridegroom,” the issue of assimilating to the culture around you vs. retaining your heritage is exceedingly present. Both stories relate in different matters in that they both relate to the same period in time, when immigrants were all arriving in America, wanting to make money and change their lives. Both stories illustrate the difficulties that many of these immigrants may not have realized they would be facing when they first arrived in America. Although the issues faced are different, the reality that these issues were faced by American immigrants is all too real.
February 12, 2008 at 7:02 pm
In my opinion, the major similarity between the two short stories, “Under the Lion’s Paw” and “The Imported Bridegroom,” is that they both neglect to restore the dominant fiction. In doing so, the authors (Hamlin Garland and Abraham Cahan, respectively) are sending a message to the reader about the myth of America (more specifically, the American Dream).
The term ‘dominant fiction’ is defined by French philosopher Jacques Renciere (1940-) as,“the privileged mode of representation by which the image of the social consensus is offered to the members of a social formation and within which they are asked to define themselves.” Hence, with respect to these two short stories, the dominant fiction could be defined as the American Dream (or the very acknowledgement that such a dream exists).
This leads one to ask what is the American Dream? As we discussed in class, America is a melting-pot of multiple ethnicities, religions, and races. Additionally, most would agree that a core value which America represents is, quite simply, if you work hard, no matter who you are or how much money you make, good things will happen to you. While this prospect is certainly possible in other parts of the world, it has nevertheless become synonymous with America itself (not just being an American) and thus represents the dominant fiction. An example of a book that restores the dominant fiction is Chris Gardner’s 2006 autobiography, “The Pursuit of Happyness.” (For more information on the dominant fiction, I recommend Kaja Silverman’s novel, “Male Subjectivity at the Margins”).
Essentially, by weakening the dominant fiction, it might be argued that the two authors share the same agenda. Via their very realist themes and use of language, they are sending the message that not only is life in America not always fair (“Under the Lion’s Paw”), but it is capable of making one feel like an outsider. Furthermore, this upset to the dominant fiction makes an immigrant, whom America supposedly treats as, “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . I lift my lamp beside the golden door,” an isolated orphan. The former reference, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty, is illuminated by Cahan in the passage we discussed in class: “Can there be anything more beautiful, more sublime than . . . New York harbor from an approaching ship?” (780). Furthermore, this weakening of the dominant fiction assimilates betrayal to one’s native country of original origin. This is most notably exemplified in,“The Imported Bridegroom.”
Furthermore, I concur that it is quite telling that, at the end of “The Imported Bridegroom” Asriel wishes to go back to Poland. Being Jewish himself, does this imply that Cahan equates success with returning to one’s roots? Conversely, since Asriel will nevertheless not be welcome in his hometown, perhaps Cahan is making a broader statement about America in general.
February 13, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Both “Under the Lion’s Paw” and “The Imported Bridegroom” present two scenarios which prove the seemingly guaranteed American Dream a fallicy. One story, “Under the Lion’s Paw”, features a man, Haskins, who cannot achieve the American Dream because he lacks the chance, not the ability, to realize it. Despite his greatest efforts, which prove to be quite fruitful, society and its machinations hold him in poverty, preventing him from realizing the Dream.
The Jewish immigrant, Asriel, in “The Imported Bridegroom” also is denied the sanctified American Dream but for an entirely different reason than Haskins. While he has all of the money he could need, he is deprived of his culture by the American melting pot. While he and his beliefs are accepted here in America, as the Statue of Liberty warmly declares, his culture can not thrive as it does in Poland, and even loses his family to the alluring promises of American Dream.
February 14, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Both stories contain irony with regard to opportunity in America.
In “Under the Lion’s Paw”, Haskins rents a farm, fixes it all up, and is poised for success when Butler (the landowner) comes and manipulates the original deal upon seeing all the improvements Haskins has made to the land. Haskins was poverty-stricken at the beginning of the story, and even after much hard work and perseverance, the end of the story does not promise much else for the man.
In “The Imported Bridegroom”, Flora dreams of marrying a doctor and becoming a sophisticated American woman. She does not want to end up like her friends, who have become the wives of merchants. When her father presents her with Shaya, she is first dismayed, then pleased when she figures out that Shaya is definitely smart enough to become a doctor. In the end, Flora gets exactly what she wanted, but she still is not satisfied because Shaya is more of an American than she is.
February 14, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I think both stories reflect a certain type of nostalgia that different cultures expect from their own kind. In “Under the Lion’s Paw”, taking place in the midwest it is/was expected of our kind to take care of our neighbors and treat them well. Hard work is expected and usually means that one will get the big pay off if they work hard throughout their life. In the “The Imported Bridegroom”, the father Asrial expected his daughter to marry and carry on his Jewish traditions but she was of a new generation. Both families had expectations of their neighbors or family that weren’t ultimately fulfilled.
February 15, 2008 at 5:44 pm
For one, Garland and Cahan are both realists who happen to be advocates for the role of literature in society. In their stories, they both use literary realism to confront the central myths about America (i.e. prosperity, opportunity, individualism, etc.). Also, since they both wrote for a newspaper, they write in the third person narrative with an objective/direct writing style. Additionally, they both end their stories with a rather ironic twist, which is probably frustrating to most readers, but it is more realistic to what would actually happen in every day life. Lastly, because they both write in a realistic manner, their works of fiction tell a greater truth than what they could simply by writing a newspaper column, which is obviously a lot shorter than their literary works.
February 21, 2008 at 10:25 am
Although the underlying theme in both Garland and Cahan’s stories is similiar I connected with what Garland was trying to say. Growing up in rural South Dakota in a farming family and farming community I understand the hardships and work that Garland’s characters go through. I found myself continually pulling for the downtrodden family hoping they would find a way to get around Butler’s crooked deals. The story was easy to relate to and I found myself picture the characters as people I know that have gone through similar situations. It was nice to read a story that took place in a setting that was familiar to me and that I could easily picture.
Although Cahan’s theme was similar it was difficult to connect to the father’s search for a husband for his daughter. The setting was foreign to me and I couldn’t picture what that would have been like for him. It was nice, however, to read about common people and not about the elite classes of people travelling the world.
February 21, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I think that Garland and Cahan’s stories may seem that they are different situations when in fact they deal with the same issue, Americanization. With Garland’s story it starts out to be a promising deal for the Haskins as they find a place to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Council and begin to build their lives. It gives off the moral of the American Dream that if you work hard you will be successful and it certainly seemed that way for the Haskins as they worked hard and toiled for years to be able to buy that farm. Then when Mr. Butler jacks up the price because of all the labor that Mr. Haskins did in hopes of building up the farm he intended to buy, it shows a dark and coniving side of the New America. It puts a damper on the American Dream and leads the reader away from seeing Americanization as a good thing.
Cahan’s story however is a lot more obvious about the Americanization in that it interfers with traditional Jewish customs. It brings the reader in the world of Jewish customs, giving the impression that arranged marriage is the norm and then Asriel takes the little prodigy back to the US and because his daughter tries to change him, this Americanization is also viewed as bad. Sure the boy was more than willing to change his focus from the religious books to studying to be a doctor, but that says he doesnt really care what he does as long as his wife is happy. The Americanization in this story is not only viewed as bad, but scandalous to the Jewish people.
March 30, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Although Garland and Cahan have very different writing styles, there are many similarities in the types of writing that they do. Both writers write about things in their own region, Garland in the midwest and Cahan in the east coast, but the settings and conflicts in each story bear relevance to each other. Both authors like to confront issues such as immigrants trying to fit in. Cahan’s “Imported Bridegroom” deals with the topic of assimilation vs. heritage and Garland’s “Under the Lion’s Paw” deals with poverty and how the family was taken advantage of by their greedy landlord. Although both stories cover very different scenarios, they both are about the struggles that immigrants face.
April 7, 2008 at 6:59 pm
There are definately similarities between Garland and Cahan’s work. Both author’s write of assimilation, but in different forms. Garland writes of immigrants trying to conform to the American land and try to make a living off of what they can get. Cahan deals with immigration in a more cultural way by writing of immigrants who are trying to preserve their old ways and yet adapt to the “American Way.” Both Garland and Cahan show the price of assimilation, which is losing an old culture to be accepted into another. Both works of the authors have a common theme of Americanization which works toward the goal of making one, homogenious culture… the American culture. Garland and Cahan, being immigrants themselves, show the trials and tribulations of being an immigrant in America and how assimilation was more than evident.
April 30, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Garland and Cahan’s stories are important literary works regardless if the story is interesting to the reader or not. Immigration is one of or the most important action that has taken place in America. When immigrants moved to America, in most cases, they were forced to assimilate to the culture. Even though the settings are different, the storyline is similar in that they focus on immigrants who moved to America. When reading these two stories together, the reader realizes that immigrants moved to all parts of the country and faced similar problems no matter where they went and what situations they encountered. In both of these stories, the writers work to making the immigrants Americans, where they will share the same culture and values as everyoen else. The plot was different in the two stories, but the view of immigrants are similar. No matter where immigrants went to live, they would face similar problems, such as in the case of a rural area and in a city.
May 1, 2008 at 11:18 am
The first similarity that I noticed was the inclusion of the Yiddish language. Both authors utilize and reference the Yiddish language frequently in the text. I believe that this calls attention to tradition as well as allows the authors to show how their characters have been modernized and influenced by the United States. In some instances, the characters are rich in tradition while still struggling to find an identity in America. Can you live the American dream if you hold too tightly to traditional values, language, etc. of your native country? In the “Imported Bridegroom”, a man native to a country eventually feels as an immigrant would as he attempts to revisit his native city. He is viewed and treated as a foreigner. Immigration and the treatment of immigrants has not always been a glorious and aesthetic picture to paint. Immigrants struggle to hold onto what is familiar and safe while also gaining acceptance within a new country. Certain areas of cities and countries become inundated with ethnic groups for a reason. Safety and comfort are much needed as people begin new lives in a different country. I believe that these stories display the struggles that exist as immigrants attempt to assimilate into a culture while holding fast to traditional cuture,beliefs and values.
May 1, 2008 at 11:32 am
Both stories are very similar. One siginificant similarity i found was that it was the fathers in both stories who were trying to make better lives for their families and they were the ones who seemes to struggle the most with the assimilation. Another similarity is that both families struggled to keep their own culture alive while living in America. They didnt realize that they still could hold onto their own cultures that they grew up knowing and still live in America. It is relly interesting and sad to see all of the things that immigrants had to go through just to live in America.
May 1, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Both Garland and Cahan focus mainly on the difficulties of adjusting to a new culture and lifestyle. The characters of the stories both have similar goals of fitting into the “American” lifestyle, but they have different ways of achieving this. Cahan’s characters want to get accustomed to city life, and Flora hopes to achieve great success and status by marrying well. Garland’s characters take a different route by trying to make an honest living on the farm. Both books leak through traces of their old country in order to establish the difficulties and the homesickness they must overcome. The way the characters try to become accustomed to America gives us insight into their background of how they lived before.
May 1, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Both these authors did a great job in portraying the immigrant lifestyles. They wrote about topics that everyone can relate to, even non-Americans. Each brought to the table a great way of showing the struggles immigrants face when coming to American. Primarily, the challenge of trying to balance a new culture while still keeping intact an old culture. It seemed to me that the older people in the stories had the hardest time with this. The younger people wanted to become Americanized. No one really tried to embrace keeping both cultures prominent in their lives and finding the balance between. I believe this is the biggest problem of people coming to a new country and both authors did a great job in getting that point across.
May 1, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I feel like we relate to these characters as we do characters in movies. We get attatched to the main characters and like Brittany said, want them to succeed. I know I would be very opposed to arranged marriages at first thought, but if I lived back then or in that part of the world, and there was nothing I could do, then I would have to accept that. It also depends how much you trust your parents, and if you would be okay with them making one of the most important decisions of your life for you. I trust my parents immensly, and if they picked a man for me to marry, I would probably totally agree. However, everyone has different views of the person they want to marry, and sometimes parents make different decisions for you, thinking they are the best for you.
May 1, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Both Garland and Cahan do an excellent job of illustrating the various struggles that immigrants face when first coming to America. They struggle to adapt to the culture, laws, language, customs, religions, and countless more things. Both authors do a solid job of making relatable and believable characters. As a reader you get a good understanding of these characters very quickly. This helps to make them more likable and the stories more enjoyable.
May 2, 2008 at 1:36 am
Like Dr. Dudley pointed out, the settings and characters of Garland and Cahan are drastically different, but their messages and themes are quite similar. Both of the stories dealt with people being taken advantage of. Garland dealt with the working class individuals being swindled and mislead basically to the point where they are left no choice but to give into the richer individual that mislead them. While on the other hand, Cahan deals with an immigrant family simply trying to adjust to the city life and America itself. Another common theme is that both authors deal with the topic of adjustment. Garland seems to deal with people trying to adjust to the farming lifestyle and everything that goes along with that. While Cahan deals with customs that immigrants must get accustomed with, in this story’s case arranged marriage. One last thing that these stories have in common is the likeablity of the characters, as Emily pointed out. We, or at least I, seemed to sympathize and feel bad for these characters in all their endeavors. Those are just a few things that these two authors had in common.
May 2, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I think both stories showed the struggles that immigrants faced when first coming to this country. I also know that each stories isn’t nec. suppossed to be a feel good story but you as the reader definitely have to feel bad for some of the family members. I can’t even imagine putting everything on the line for my family to build up a farm from the ground up and then all of a sudden have it taken away from me due to some crappy loophole presented by a person who holds the ace over me.