Abstract
This paper examines the depiction of the American Dream in two short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri: “Unaccustomed Earth” and “Only Goodness.” The study explores three general issues: what the depiction of the American Dream reveals about Indian immigrant experience, how the idea of the Dream differs between generations, and how it is linked to the question of immigrant identity formation. The paper argues that while first-generation Bengali immigrants successfully realize their American Dream through education and economic stability, their America-born children, whose path to success is less steep, fail to follow in their footsteps. Drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space and theories of cultural hybridity, the paper demonstrates that the second generation’s inability to achieve the Dream stems from the conflicting position of living in-between two cultures.
Keywords: American Dream, Jhumpa Lahiri, immigrant identity, cultural hybridity, generational difference, Indian diaspora
The American Dream and Immigration
The United States has been a country of immigrants who at the core of their immigrant experience have shared one common idea of a paradise they will eventually reach. As historian James Truslow Adams wrote in The Epic of America (1931), newcomers “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” Jim Cullen calls the Dream the “national motto” and the “most immediate component of an American identity.” As recent experience and fiction show, cultural assimilation understood as “melting” is a thing of the past. The confrontation of the vision of the awaiting paradise with reality often turns immigrants’ dream into a nightmare.
”Unaccustomed Earth”
The representatives of the first generation immigrants in “Unaccustomed Earth” are Ruma’s parents and Mrs. Bagchi. Ruma’s parents came to the U.S. in search of better educational opportunities: after her father receives a PhD degree in biochemistry he finds a rewarding job in a pharmaceutical company, which allows the family to live in comfort. Mrs. Bagchi is driven by a different dream — she escapes India for fear of being forced by her parents to re-marry after her beloved husband’s death. America offers asylum where she can decide about her life, unrestrained by conventions or customs.
In both cases, the realization of the Dream is connected with a gradual assimilation process. Even though assimilating, the representatives of the first generation immigrants are nevertheless cultural hybrids. To use Homi K. Bhabha’s terms, they live in the Third Space, characterized by in-betweenness.
The representative of the second generation, Ruma, is in a different situation. Being born in America but to Bengali parents, she lives in the Third Space all her life. Her pursuit of the American Dream comes to an abrupt halt as she resigns from her professional career and independence to care solely for her family and household. Ruma is able to identify neither with her homeland India nor with America, thus she suffers from “double displacement.” The narrative suggests that everyone has to accept the position in which they have found themselves and that immigrants’ children need to preserve the consciousness of their original roots and accept their living in the Third Space.
”Only Goodness”
The first generation immigrants in “Only Goodness,” Rahul and Sudha’s parents, are Bengali immigrants who first emigrate to London in search of successful life. From there, disenchanted, they move to the U.S., which draws them with the ideals of equality. Despite initial problems, they achieve economic success — realize the American Dream they strove for.
However, Rahul’s story becomes the American Dream reversed — a gradual downfall of a young man. Compliant in the beginning, Rahul suddenly becomes resistant to his parents’ dreams. He drops out of Cornell, alcohol becomes a solution to his problems, and he takes up a menial job managing a laundromat. His failure to fulfill the American Dream is the result of the conflicting position he has found himself in. Neither he nor his parents accept his border position; while he wishes to live like an American, they want him to preserve the Indian way of life. As a hybrid, he cannot be the One or the Other — he cannot live as an American or an Indian. He will not succeed until he agrees to his middle position, his in-betweenness.
Conclusion
Lahiri’s stories discuss a new model of American identity. It is performed on the thresholds of cultures, in border situations, in interstitial spaces. The hybridity of the characters from her stories directs attention to the idea of multiculturalism — celebration of cultural diversity and preservation of one’s ethnic roots. Thus, Lahiri’s works become an important voice in the question of rewriting the story of what it means to be American.
Works Cited
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