Bonus Blog: "Double Consciousness"

W.E.B. DuBois idea of “double consciousness” means looking at oneself through the eyes of others.  This is particularly present in immigrants as they came to make a life in the United States.  Immigrants brought their cultural identity with them while also wanting to conform to the white American culture.  It was hard for immigrants to have one identity with the pressures of the new American way.  Sui Sin Far, Onoto Watanna, and Mary Antin each write about their experiences as immigrants to America and the stories share similarities and differences. 

Some of the similarities between these stories are seen through the white man’s uncaring spirit toward immigrants’ culture.  This is displayed “In The Land of the Free” by Far when the American customs officer says, “ Seeing that the boy has no certificate entitling him to admission to this country you will have to leave him with us” (299).   They are taking this family’s son away from them and the attitude of this custom officer does not seem to care; it is natural for this to happen because they have seen it so many times before.  Because this family is immigrating, the white man does not seem to even notice that they are taking the family’s most prized possession-a life! In the same way, Antin’s story, “The Promise Land,” she states, “with our despised immigrant clothing we shed our impossible Hebrew names” (491).  The family shed their own names in a way to culturally be more accepted by the white man.  It is as if, Americans would not have cared about them or would have treated them differently if they would have kept their given Hebrew names, so therefore, the family changes each of their names to fit in better.  In both of these stories, it is obvious to the immigrants that the white man does not truly care about them and their culture.  The white man wants immigrants to conform to American ways. 

There are many differences present between the stories that can be seen.  The immigrants in “In The Land of the Free” by Far do not have a strong desire to be American like those immigrants that are described in “The Promise Land” by Antin.  The mother in “In The Land of the Free” does not have a strong desire to be in American because she does not have her child.  This directly foils the father in “The Promise Land” because he has a very strong desire for himself and his family to be in American to receive an education and a chance at a better life.

Immigrants during this time struggled with having an identity because of the “double consciousness” that was present.  They could not simply embrace their culture while being in a new nation.  Now, I think this has changed and immigrants can more easily keep their culture and be American.