"As someone long prepared for the occasion,
In full command of every plan you wrecked --
Do not choose a coward's explanation
That hides behind the cause and the effect.
I thought that Son of Italy was a very interesting example to understand both the conditions in Italy that forced the idea immigration on the Italians and the hardships of migrating to America and trying to assimilate to succeed. Pascal's autobiography highlights a constant struggle between his Italian ethnicity and the prospect of becoming American. On the one hand, Pascal wants to connect with his fellow laborers and he stays with a group of Italians to get his footing in world. However, when his father leaves, Pascal believes that he can "make it" without the group of Italians and seeks out a way to succeed in America.
At the end of the autobiography, Pascal does make it in America, but only by assimilating into American culture and the English language. By the end of the book, he is not connected to the other laborers and they poke fun at him and see him as an interesting "specimen"--calling him the "Solution". His time at the boxcars reflects the struggle to stay as a laborer or seek out fortune through other means (writing). Pascal succeeds in America, but in doing so he forfeits being a laborer and being part of the working Italian American class.
I agree with your post, Joe. The book presents an interesting dichotomy between retaining the Italian culture and assimilating into American culture. It examines the fine line between being an Italian immigrant and being an Italian American. It also examined how much of a person's original culture he has to give up (an inherently how much he can retain) in order to assimilate into American society and succeed in this new land.
I found Son of Italy to be a quite interesting read as well. As I stated in an earlier blog post, his childhood was extremely appealing to me because it was filled with so much fear, superstition and other aspects that I believe had some sort of impact or relation to his adult life. As the professor said, this can be compared to the conditions that surrounded him in America. The fact that there was no one to "protect or defend him," is just like what he has to deal with in America, being in a new and different environment somewhat alone. I liked that Pascal was able to do this when he wrote the book. When I first started reading, I wondered what exactly was the point of giving so much information about his childhood, which I found to be insignificant at times. However, he was able to tie everything together so that it made sense, and so that it helped the reader make the connection between his childhood in Italy and his adulthood in America.
The book also showed Pascal's personal hardships that he endured to try to make it in America. From his hostile childhood to his quest to try and fit in in America, Pascal kind of showed the struggles that most immigrants who come to America deal with. In a way, there is kind of a difference between the way that Pascal tried to fit in America, and the way people currently do it. Sometimes, immigrants aren't really interested in practicing the American culture and language. There are many immigrants who have been in America for a while but still don't speak that much English. Also, many others try to hold on to their own culture so that it won't be forgotten. However, I felt that Pascal was open to becoming an American in a sense. Not that he wanted to forget his own culture, but rather that he wanted to also embrace the American culture, as not to be seen as that much of an outcast. I just found this interesting and very open minded of him. We also see how determined Pascal is to make it when he continues to stay in America even after so many others have given up.
I found Son of Italy a very emotionally charged endeavor. Despite D'Angelo's upbeat attitude throughout, his darkest emotions came through at the loss of a paisan or fellow laborer, but these moments really seemed to motivate him. This really stuck with Pascal as you can tell from how vivid his descriptions were on those days and how it provoked him enough to speak out and ultimately write poetry. When he recanted Teofilo and Andrea's unfortunate demise and two other workers in the Coal Dump, my heart nearly stopped, but the description was so clear; "There was a howl of pain, blood-curdling and piercing. We turned our eyes. Two men were pinned under the Derrick." D'Angelo alway's showed such amazement with these massive construction vehicles in every site he worked, and now it seems foreshadowing and ironic that these same, turn of the century machinery would crush his friends to death. This realization of this new world and the hazards it kept seemed to motivate Pascal for something greater than being a pick and shovel man.
This scene struck me too! Especially when Pascal reveals that Teofilo is supposed to be a lucky man with "9 lives" in a scene shortly beforehand. The reader is tricked into thinking that nothing bad can happen to this group of men (besides robbery earlier in the story), but then suddenly the death of lucky Teofilo and the strong and burly Andrea shocks both Pascal and the audience into believing that America is a land of hardship, tragedy, and struggle.
I find this scene especially interesting when focusing on the differences between Pascal's reaction and his father's reaction. Pascal is motivated as you say, to be something greater than a pick and shovel man. His father on the other hand is dissuaded by his struggle and losses in America and finds his best option is to return home. I don't think it's a generational difference, but much more a personal decision, as we have discussed the idea of individual mass migration. As an individual, Pascal felt he was better suited to stay in America, and his father felt disconnected to this foreign land and decided to return home to his wife, other son, and simple life as a peasant farmer.
I found Son of Italy to be quite powerful and inspiring. I found myself shaking my head reading the hardships that Pascal goes through here in America. His living conditions were horrific and I think it was becoming a sad story especially towards the end there until he finally pulled through. Many had hardships back in Italy but some who came to America didn't find it much better and decided to depart. Long hours, hard labor and little to show for it. On top of that, dealing with tyrant-like foremen. Pascal had the will and determination and he did not quit even after all those rejections, living conditions and the pick and shovel brutality that he underwent. Even when writing his letter to the editor, he had not quit. He clearly did not have plans to depart back to Italy on his mind. In the letter to the editor, he wrote that he's about to get evicted from his room and will have to find another. Perseverance ran through him.
I absolutely agree with you. I feel like some people think that immigrants come to America and have somewhat of a glamorous life because they're able to get more jobs because they don't demand as much money and other slight benefits. However, this novel showed the real hardships that immigrants have to endure, without sugar coating anything. Like you said Adam, it was rough and the living conditions were harsh, but this is a real and accurate representation of the struggles of immigrants and I'm glad that Pascal was truly able to portray that.
With all the hardships that the immigrants had to endure, it also makes me wonder where they heard about the U.S. being such a great opportunity - as those who made it I assume did not go back and those who went back were those who couldn't make it - and I remember hearing stories when I was little how some of my neighbors were scared sick that they would be turned away at Ellis Island.
By the end of the book I was so impressed by his motivation to keep on trying even though he was going through the hardest time,and you think you would never be able to go thru the same thing, you would gave up and left. He didn't. His father left, his gang fell apart, and he became a witness to violent death of his friend. That didn't stop him though, he went through many different obstables and still kept on moving forward. And What motivated him? A bad-written poem he saw in the paper and he nailed it to his door to remind himself that he has much bigger to share and be recognized for. He knew what he wanted and he pursued that. You have to fight through your obstacles of life as Pascal did because in the end if you fight hard enough, things do work in your favor.
I also see Pascal's perseverance as a very admirable quality. However, I don't think his determination (at least initially) is as romantic as you make him seem. His poetry only begins to motivate him after his hand is injured and he discovered the poems of Shelley, and this is long after his gang had broken up and his father returned to Italy. What kept Pascal going was the sheer hope that there was something for him besides a lifetime of labor camps. There were many times where that hope was almost broken, but Pascal refused to abandon it because it was the only thing he had that he could not lose when he was starving, cold, or injured.
I would contend that the belief in a better life, and the hope that one will make it there is the most romantic thing of all. some people can not actually express themselves through the arts but i believe that as hard as life gets, with Pascal or anyone else, the human ability to constantly hope for better and move towards that reality is one of the most romantic things about our race.
Despite the troubles Pascal went thru, he does not concur with those who he thinks just gave up and went back home to Italy such as his father and some townsmen. He decides to learn a language, learn music and become a poet. He discovers there's no limit and adjusts to his situation. He decides to spend as least as possible including on food even to the point of eating something stale. The breakup of his gang didn't stop him either even though they tried very much to work as a group and not be separated. He fought his way through and was determined on not going back to Italy empty handed or without making it here as he very well knows the conditions over there when he witnessed them as a boy only to now witness them here. His gang breaks up. He is left alone in his room, which is void of anyone waiting there to help him, just as a boy in Italy when no one would help him against his accusers. Only this time he overcomes with no help.
I found the book to be extraordinarily inspiring and life-changing. (I am serious.) It made me think of how many things in life we take for granted and how entitled our society has become. When Pascal was walking with Federico and Saverio down the street he says, “Then we passed on to a florist’s store where there was a glorious display. It seemed as if these cold people made it a silly point of honor not to stop or glance at an array of lovely things like flowers ... And we three walked on, wanderers in a magic show of forbidden splendor and beauty. And I thought of how lovely and yet repulsive this enchanted city was.” My jaw dropped after reading that scene. If someone who has gone through living hell can appreciate the little things in life, why can't we who have never experienced anything close to this? (at least I hope not) It also instilled in me an appreciation for what my ancestors must have gone through on arrival in the U.S. although I never heard any of their stories. But more than anything, I realized that if he could accomplish what he did, any of us can conquer the sun if we persevere.
I found this book was well written memoir. It simply, yet intricately tells the story of Pascal, that I would imagine so many other immigrants would have identified to all the turmoil and toil of working in America. I guess the tragic part was that for some so never got the better life, not in America nor in Italy. Just like the Italians who came to America on their accord, so did many West Indians,who quickly realized that without an education the American dream was so far out of you reach. Pascal for me was a hero because even he beat the odd and accomplished something on perseverance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Son of Italy. it reminded me of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, another book where the author details the metaphorical rape of new immigrants to this country by the culture surrounding them, where they do not speak the language and are taken advantage of because of that. I found the book interesting, because even though Pascal details the horrors he went through, he also is constantly looking to the future and wanting to push through his hardships using his intellect and the power of his soul with its need to express itself. I found the writing to be eloquent and pleasant to read, and his hardships very relatable. His observations of the world around him, though obviously i didn't live during the time period, seemed very on point and his view of the people around him was very realistic and truthful in my opinion. I felt much of what he went through in a real way, and believe that is one of the core necessities to a good autobiography, one of the reasons i enjoyed the book a lot.
I found your notes on the parallels between the episode with the witch on the mountain and Pascal's recognition as a poet very insightful. I noticed the similarities in the narrative's structure while set in Italy and while set in America (before I read your notes that pointed out this comparison), but I did not see the episode with the witch as one of redemption. The way that Pascal shrunk away from her in fear when she went to embrace him sticks out to me as a counterpoint to this argument for two reasons. For one, his hesitation is not paralleled in his immigrant narrative; if anything, American culture distances itself from Pascal by rejecting his poetry so often prior to his letter to the nation. Secondly, I think that if Pascal had really been trying to redeem himself and assuage his guilt, the episode would not be so mechanical and would instead be one of compassion.
What I would like to reflect upon is Pascal's fathers decision to return home. After an accident that killed one of the members of the gang, the gang is split and Pascal's father decides to return home. Pascal's father is lost in America, and has lost hope for his future there as well. His decision shows the failure of the American dream in his eyes, but meanwhile the American dream lives on in Pascal. It's quite ironic that when I received this book in the mail my mother read the back cover and began to tell me how interested she was in reading this book. She told me a story I never heard before. Apparently her great grandfather came to America after he was newly married, along with one of his cousins. He was also a laborer, and his first child was born here. However after and accident working on a public works project(my mom was not sure which bridge or tunnel he was working on) that left his cousin dead, he had lost his hope as well. My great great grandfather decided to go back to Italy and my mother recalled his disbelief during this time as he questioned "What is this America?" He, like Pascal's father saw the tragedy of America, the hard endless labor, and wages to just survive. It was not the gilded land he had imagined or dreamed of, and he went back home, just as Pascal's father did. They did not find their dreams, but at least they attempted to better their situation. At least they had a "home" that they could return to if all else failed, unlike the Jews who were essentially kicked out of Eastern Europe and the Irish who would starve if they went home.
I agree that while Italians had disadvantages in America over Jews and Irish they still had a home to return to. I'm sure your mom will find this book touching and I'm sure she is happy that you are learning about your history.
I felt that this was a great book that really reflects the conditions of immigrants in America in the late 19th - early 20th century. It can easily be used as a primary source to reference the conditions and the lifestyles that all immigrants (particularly those from Italy) had to endure. There were some episodes in the book that were terribly outrageous, like the nail in the hand, or the crushing by the derrick. These immigrants were treated as if they were animals, like they were less than human. I feel that this is the reason he often has mixed feelings towards NYC/America. It is a place where he was supposed to get away from the horrible conditions of Italy, and he was greeted with new horrible conditions in America. But after years, he eventually made something of himself and achieved what is considered to be the "American Dream." You can see in the book that when he is describing NYC/America, he often uses two adjectives, one positive and one negative, to describe it: "how lovely and yet repulsive this enchanted city was" (pg. 80)
I thought it was a Interesting book, Enjoy that fact that i finished it within days. It tells the story of Italians that i have never knew before reading this, i felt through some of the descriptive details that i was there with Pascal through out his time. A book that allows someone to feel that kind of emotion and continues to have your interest until the end is definitely worth reading.
I enjoyed this book very much and learned things I didn't know about Italian Americans. I was impressed at how much information he shared about himself and culture in such a short story. He took us through his journey from beginning to the end in so much detail that if I ran into him in the streets I would look at him as someone I've known for years. I really like how as an adult he found beauty in the most horrid places/situations. I particularly like the line where he describes the unsanitary and poor condition he lives in and then says "At least if my body was living in a world of horror I could build a world of beauty for my soul." I thought that was beautiful. His persistence to not become a victim of his circumstances and escape/dream through his art. This book on a side note reminds me of the respect we owe to each other because we have no idea what the other person may be going through and to be kind. It's also a reminder of the length people are willing to travel in pursuit of the dreams.
"the respect we owe to each other because we have no idea what the other person may be going through"
Well said. From the very first day I was impressed with the serious and honest tone of the autobiographies. I noticed a will, almost a need, for authenticity. The work everyone is doing shows real integrity and self-respect.
I thought that Son of Italy was a very interesting example to understand both the conditions in Italy that forced the idea immigration on the Italians and the hardships of migrating to America and trying to assimilate to succeed. Pascal's autobiography highlights a constant struggle between his Italian ethnicity and the prospect of becoming American. On the one hand, Pascal wants to connect with his fellow laborers and he stays with a group of Italians to get his footing in world. However, when his father leaves, Pascal believes that he can "make it" without the group of Italians and seeks out a way to succeed in America.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the autobiography, Pascal does make it in America, but only by assimilating into American culture and the English language. By the end of the book, he is not connected to the other laborers and they poke fun at him and see him as an interesting "specimen"--calling him the "Solution". His time at the boxcars reflects the struggle to stay as a laborer or seek out fortune through other means (writing). Pascal succeeds in America, but in doing so he forfeits being a laborer and being part of the working Italian American class.
I agree with your post, Joe. The book presents an interesting dichotomy between retaining the Italian culture and assimilating into American culture. It examines the fine line between being an Italian immigrant and being an Italian American. It also examined how much of a person's original culture he has to give up (an inherently how much he can retain) in order to assimilate into American society and succeed in this new land.
DeleteI found Son of Italy to be a quite interesting read as well. As I stated in an earlier blog post, his childhood was extremely appealing to me because it was filled with so much fear, superstition and other aspects that I believe had some sort of impact or relation to his adult life. As the professor said, this can be compared to the conditions that surrounded him in America. The fact that there was no one to "protect or defend him," is just like what he has to deal with in America, being in a new and different environment somewhat alone. I liked that Pascal was able to do this when he wrote the book. When I first started reading, I wondered what exactly was the point of giving so much information about his childhood, which I found to be insignificant at times. However, he was able to tie everything together so that it made sense, and so that it helped the reader make the connection between his childhood in Italy and his adulthood in America.
ReplyDeleteThe book also showed Pascal's personal hardships that he endured to try to make it in America. From his hostile childhood to his quest to try and fit in in America, Pascal kind of showed the struggles that most immigrants who come to America deal with. In a way, there is kind of a difference between the way that Pascal tried to fit in America, and the way people currently do it. Sometimes, immigrants aren't really interested in practicing the American culture and language. There are many immigrants who have been in America for a while but still don't speak that much English. Also, many others try to hold on to their own culture so that it won't be forgotten. However, I felt that Pascal was open to becoming an American in a sense. Not that he wanted to forget his own culture, but rather that he wanted to also embrace the American culture, as not to be seen as that much of an outcast. I just found this interesting and very open minded of him. We also see how determined Pascal is to make it when he continues to stay in America even after so many others have given up.
I found Son of Italy a very emotionally charged endeavor. Despite D'Angelo's upbeat attitude throughout, his darkest emotions came through at the loss of a paisan or fellow laborer, but these moments really seemed to motivate him. This really stuck with Pascal as you can tell from how vivid his descriptions were on those days and how it provoked him enough to speak out and ultimately write poetry. When he recanted Teofilo and Andrea's unfortunate demise and two other workers in the Coal Dump, my heart nearly stopped, but the description was so clear; "There was a howl of pain, blood-curdling and piercing. We turned our eyes. Two men were pinned under the Derrick." D'Angelo alway's showed such amazement with these massive construction vehicles in every site he worked, and now it seems foreshadowing and ironic that these same, turn of the century machinery would crush his friends to death. This realization of this new world and the hazards it kept seemed to motivate Pascal for something greater than being a pick and shovel man.
ReplyDeleteThis scene struck me too! Especially when Pascal reveals that Teofilo is supposed to be a lucky man with "9 lives" in a scene shortly beforehand. The reader is tricked into thinking that nothing bad can happen to this group of men (besides robbery earlier in the story), but then suddenly the death of lucky Teofilo and the strong and burly Andrea shocks both Pascal and the audience into believing that America is a land of hardship, tragedy, and struggle.
DeleteI find this scene especially interesting when focusing on the differences between Pascal's reaction and his father's reaction. Pascal is motivated as you say, to be something greater than a pick and shovel man. His father on the other hand is dissuaded by his struggle and losses in America and finds his best option is to return home. I don't think it's a generational difference, but much more a personal decision, as we have discussed the idea of individual mass migration. As an individual, Pascal felt he was better suited to stay in America, and his father felt disconnected to this foreign land and decided to return home to his wife, other son, and simple life as a peasant farmer.
DeleteI found Son of Italy to be quite powerful and inspiring. I found myself shaking my head reading the hardships that Pascal goes through here in America. His living conditions were horrific and I think it was becoming a sad story especially towards the end there until he finally pulled through. Many had hardships back in Italy but some who came to America didn't find it much better and decided to depart. Long hours, hard labor and little to show for it. On top of that, dealing with tyrant-like foremen. Pascal had the will and determination and he did not quit even after all those rejections, living conditions and the pick and shovel brutality that he underwent. Even when writing his letter to the editor, he had not quit. He clearly did not have plans to depart back to Italy on his mind. In the letter to the editor, he wrote that he's about to get evicted from his room and will have to find another. Perseverance ran through him.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. I feel like some people think that immigrants come to America and have somewhat of a glamorous life because they're able to get more jobs because they don't demand as much money and other slight benefits. However, this novel showed the real hardships that immigrants have to endure, without sugar coating anything. Like you said Adam, it was rough and the living conditions were harsh, but this is a real and accurate representation of the struggles of immigrants and I'm glad that Pascal was truly able to portray that.
DeleteWith all the hardships that the immigrants had to endure, it also makes me wonder where they heard about the U.S. being such a great opportunity - as those who made it I assume did not go back and those who went back were those who couldn't make it - and I remember hearing stories when I was little how some of my neighbors were scared sick that they would be turned away at Ellis Island.
DeleteBy the end of the book I was so impressed by his motivation to keep on trying even though he was going through the hardest time,and you think you would never be able to go thru the same thing, you would gave up and left. He didn't. His father left, his gang fell apart, and he became a witness to violent death of his friend. That didn't stop him though, he went through many different obstables and still kept on moving forward. And What motivated him? A bad-written poem he saw in the paper and he nailed it to his door to remind himself that he has much bigger to share and be recognized for. He knew what he wanted and he pursued that. You have to fight through your obstacles of life as Pascal did because in the end if you fight hard enough, things do work in your favor.
ReplyDeleteI also see Pascal's perseverance as a very admirable quality. However, I don't think his determination (at least initially) is as romantic as you make him seem. His poetry only begins to motivate him after his hand is injured and he discovered the poems of Shelley, and this is long after his gang had broken up and his father returned to Italy. What kept Pascal going was the sheer hope that there was something for him besides a lifetime of labor camps. There were many times where that hope was almost broken, but Pascal refused to abandon it because it was the only thing he had that he could not lose when he was starving, cold, or injured.
DeleteI would contend that the belief in a better life, and the hope that one will make it there is the most romantic thing of all. some people can not actually express themselves through the arts but i believe that as hard as life gets, with Pascal or anyone else, the human ability to constantly hope for better and move towards that reality is one of the most romantic things about our race.
DeleteDespite the troubles Pascal went thru, he does not concur with those who he thinks just gave up and went back home to Italy such as his father and some townsmen. He decides to learn a language, learn music and become a poet. He discovers there's no limit and adjusts to his situation. He decides to spend as least as possible including on food even to the point of eating something stale. The breakup of his gang didn't stop him either even though they tried very much to work as a group and not be separated. He fought his way through and was determined on not going back to Italy empty handed or without making it here as he very well knows the conditions over there when he witnessed them as a boy only to now witness them here. His gang breaks up. He is left alone in his room, which is void of anyone waiting there to help him, just as a boy in Italy when no one would help him against his accusers. Only this time he overcomes with no help.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found the book to be extraordinarily inspiring and life-changing. (I am serious.) It made me think of how many things in life we take for granted and how entitled our society has become. When Pascal was walking with Federico and Saverio down the street he says, “Then we passed on to a florist’s store where there was a glorious display. It seemed as if these cold people made it a silly point of honor not to stop or glance at an array of lovely things like flowers ... And we three walked on, wanderers in a magic show of forbidden splendor and beauty. And I thought of how lovely and yet repulsive this enchanted city was.” My jaw dropped after reading that scene. If someone who has gone through living hell can appreciate the little things in life, why can't we who have never experienced anything close to this? (at least I hope not) It also instilled in me an appreciation for what my ancestors must have gone through on arrival in the U.S. although I never heard any of their stories. But more than anything, I realized that if he could accomplish what he did, any of us can conquer the sun if we persevere.
ReplyDeleteI think you will like this
DeleteTHE SHORT VERSION
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-happiness-dirty-word.html
THE FULL VERSION
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/06/14/the-full-text-david-gutersons-controversial-commencement-speech
Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed it.
DeleteI found this book was well written memoir. It simply, yet intricately tells the story of Pascal, that I would imagine so many other immigrants would have identified to all the turmoil and toil of working in America. I guess the tragic part was that for some so never got the better life, not in America nor in Italy. Just like the Italians who came to America on their accord, so did many West Indians,who quickly realized that without an education the American dream was so far out of you reach. Pascal for me was a hero because even he beat the odd and accomplished something on perseverance.
ReplyDeleteVery true about the West Indians notion, i do believe that many other immigrants feel the same way.
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the Son of Italy. it reminded me of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, another book where the author details the metaphorical rape of new immigrants to this country by the culture surrounding them, where they do not speak the language and are taken advantage of because of that. I found the book interesting, because even though Pascal details the horrors he went through, he also is constantly looking to the future and wanting to push through his hardships using his intellect and the power of his soul with its need to express itself. I found the writing to be eloquent and pleasant to read, and his hardships very relatable. His observations of the world around him, though obviously i didn't live during the time period, seemed very on point and his view of the people around him was very realistic and truthful in my opinion. I felt much of what he went through in a real way, and believe that is one of the core necessities to a good autobiography, one of the reasons i enjoyed the book a lot.
ReplyDeleteI found your notes on the parallels between the episode with the witch on the mountain and Pascal's recognition as a poet very insightful. I noticed the similarities in the narrative's structure while set in Italy and while set in America (before I read your notes that pointed out this comparison), but I did not see the episode with the witch as one of redemption. The way that Pascal shrunk away from her in fear when she went to embrace him sticks out to me as a counterpoint to this argument for two reasons. For one, his hesitation is not paralleled in his immigrant narrative; if anything, American culture distances itself from Pascal by rejecting his poetry so often prior to his letter to the nation. Secondly, I think that if Pascal had really been trying to redeem himself and assuage his guilt, the episode would not be so mechanical and would instead be one of compassion.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would like to reflect upon is Pascal's fathers decision to return home. After an accident that killed one of the members of the gang, the gang is split and Pascal's father decides to return home. Pascal's father is lost in America, and has lost hope for his future there as well. His decision shows the failure of the American dream in his eyes, but meanwhile the American dream lives on in Pascal. It's quite ironic that when I received this book in the mail my mother read the back cover and began to tell me how interested she was in reading this book. She told me a story I never heard before. Apparently her great grandfather came to America after he was newly married, along with one of his cousins. He was also a laborer, and his first child was born here. However after and accident working on a public works project(my mom was not sure which bridge or tunnel he was working on) that left his cousin dead, he had lost his hope as well. My great great grandfather decided to go back to Italy and my mother recalled his disbelief during this time as he questioned "What is this America?" He, like Pascal's father saw the tragedy of America, the hard endless labor, and wages to just survive. It was not the gilded land he had imagined or dreamed of, and he went back home, just as Pascal's father did. They did not find their dreams, but at least they attempted to better their situation. At least they had a "home" that they could return to if all else failed, unlike the Jews who were essentially kicked out of Eastern Europe and the Irish who would starve if they went home.
ReplyDeleteI agree that while Italians had disadvantages in America over Jews and Irish they still had a home to return to. I'm sure your mom will find this book touching and I'm sure she is happy that you are learning about your history.
DeleteI felt that this was a great book that really reflects the conditions of immigrants in America in the late 19th - early 20th century. It can easily be used as a primary source to reference the conditions and the lifestyles that all immigrants (particularly those from Italy) had to endure. There were some episodes in the book that were terribly outrageous, like the nail in the hand, or the crushing by the derrick. These immigrants were treated as if they were animals, like they were less than human. I feel that this is the reason he often has mixed feelings towards NYC/America. It is a place where he was supposed to get away from the horrible conditions of Italy, and he was greeted with new horrible conditions in America. But after years, he eventually made something of himself and achieved what is considered to be the "American Dream." You can see in the book that when he is describing NYC/America, he often uses two adjectives, one positive and one negative, to describe it: "how lovely and yet repulsive this enchanted city was" (pg. 80)
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a Interesting book, Enjoy that fact that i finished it within days. It tells the story of Italians that i have never knew before reading this, i felt through some of the descriptive details that i was there with Pascal through out his time. A book that allows someone to feel that kind of emotion and continues to have your interest until the end is definitely worth reading.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this book very much and learned things I didn't know about Italian Americans. I was impressed at how much information he shared about himself and culture in such a short story. He took us through his journey from beginning to the end in so much detail that if I ran into him in the streets I would look at him as someone I've known for years. I really like how as an adult he found beauty in the most horrid places/situations. I particularly like the line where he describes the unsanitary and poor condition he lives in and then says "At least if my body was living in a world of horror I could build a world of beauty for my soul." I thought that was beautiful. His persistence to not become a victim of his circumstances and escape/dream through his art. This book on a side note reminds me of the respect we owe to each other because we have no idea what the other person may be going through and to be kind. It's also a reminder of the length people are willing to travel in pursuit of the dreams.
ReplyDelete"the respect we owe to each other because we have no idea what the other person may be going through"
DeleteWell said. From the very first day I was impressed with the serious and honest tone of the autobiographies. I noticed a will, almost a need, for authenticity. The work everyone is doing shows real integrity and self-respect.