1. Being immigrants in New York, Danticat’s parents had to work longer hours for less money and they rarely had any benefits. Her father had two minimum-wage jobs: he worked at the factory in daytime and at a car wash at night. The mother also worked at the factory and had to look after two children who often got ill. Besides they had to endure humiliating immigration raids and pay doctors every time they needed their help because they had no insurance. All their money was spent on rent, medical bills, and grocery. They usually could not afford anything else.
2. It is hard to say if the Faustian bargain was a fair thing. As Danticat’s aunt and uncle used to say, Edwidge’s parents had only two options: they could stay in Haiti and live in poverty without any prospects of better life, even for their children; or they could risk and go to New York in search of decent living. It is obvious that it was hard both for the parents and the children to live apart, but eventually the parents managed to achieve what they had wanted – a better future for their children. So, it was worth it. Besides, the example of Uncle Joseph shows that there was really nothing good to wait for in Haiti.
3. Uncle Joseph’s view on life in New York was more realistic. He understood all the hardships Edwidge’s parents had to endure to provide for two households. He told the children that just living in New York did not guarantee prosperity; better life could be achieved only through sweat and blood. The children, on the contrary, thought that New York had penny-gilded streets and shops full of candies available to them for free. The children did not know life yet; therefore, they believed in miracles and fairy tales. Besides, they, probably, thought that if their parents had gone there, it was worth it.
4. The first lesson Danticat had to learn in New York was the realization that immigrants differed from other New Yorkers because they had to work twice as much as others and for no benefits at all. She understood that the life there was far from being a paradise. I think many immigrants feel the same on arrival. Danticat says that her parents also had utopian fantasies of their own when they left everything and headed for New York. It happens so because when people go to a new place they usually envision pictures of better life and they hope life will be easier. If they had no hopes of that kind, they would not go anywhere.
5. It is natural that parents make plans what their children’s lives will be like. They choose professions for them and expect the children to accept their choices happily enough. However, it often happens that their desires do not coincide and children are not willing to follow the route chosen by their parents. It is often hard for both. In such situations, both sides should be wise: children should choose the way which is the best for them, despite all their parents’ sacrifices, while parents should be ready to accept their children’s choice. In Danticat’s case, she first did what her parents wanted her to do because she felt obliged for everything they had done for them. She spent some years of her life to understand that medicine is not her route. However, when she quit medicine, her father had enough wisdom to accept his daughter’s choice.
6. Immigrants in the past had no privileges. Moreover, they were discriminated in terms of payment, working hours, and medical service. At present, those who immigrate to New York are not called immigrants; they are transnational and they have living quarters and voting privileges. It seems as if the things have improved. But Danticat’s father is not sure they have. He believes that, though it was hard in the past, everything was simpler because it was more obvious what to expect. That is why the former label of “an immigrant” is more preferable to him.
7. After 9/11 Danticat’s father has to worry about terrorism. And the peculiar thing is that he might both become its victim and be accused of being a terrorist himself. It concerns not only him, but all immigrants, especially Muslims. The Americans’ War on Terror initiated after 9/11 is aimed at strengthening security with special attention to potential terrorists.
8. Uncle Joseph’s death in the custody shows that he finally ventured to follow his relatives’ route and try to improve his life by fleeing from brutal regimes and violence in Haiti. As he used to say, the poor people could make their life better only though sweat and blood. Unfortunately, he started his fight too late and his health failed him.
9. The title of the story uses a verb in the past tense – New York Was Our City on the Hill. Probably, the author wants to show that when she and her brother were children and lived in Haiti, New York seemed to them to be the place where they would be rewarded for all their miseries with happiness and candies. However, their understanding of the city changed when they got there. They realized what the reality was and New York ceased to be their city on the hill.
Suki Kim’s Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits
1. Suki Kim’s family had to immigrate to the United States because her father had gone bankrupt which, in Korea, meant he would have to go to jail. To escape it, the family fled to the USA.
2. Kim’s first impressions were a shock to her. Firstly, she did not speak the language. Secondly, the family had to stay in a very poor district and live in terrible conditions. Everything was even harder for Kim than for any other immigrants because she was used to a better life. Her father had been extremely wealthy before his bankruptcy and the girl had had a chauffeur to take her to school and a governess to help her with homework.
3. The term “F.O.B.” stands for “fresh off the board” and is used to name those who he have just immigrated to the country. The girl was puzzled by the term and could not understand why her class mates applied it to her if she had come by air, not by sea.
4. It was rather strange for Kim to hear herself called Asian or yellow. In Korea, she heard the term “Asian” mentioned only in a social studies class. As for the “yellow”, she had never even though that there was anything unusual about the color of her skin. More than that, she had never even thought that the color of her skin had anything to do with yellow.
5. The English-speaking Korean-American children avoided their newly immigrated Korean classmates for the reason they felt they were already a part of the American community, at least in some way, and, therefore, they did not want to be associated with those who could not even speak the English language. I cannot say for sure if the same tendency can be observed in other immigrant communities; but it is quite possible that the situation is the same.
6. Kim was surprised at how different the schools in America were from those in Korea. In Korea, they always greeted their teachers with a bow, wore sleepers to keep the floor clean, and behaved in a modest way. In America, children could French-kiss at lessons, cover school walls with graffiti, and wear clothes that were far from being modest.
7. The “1.5 generation” of immigrants differs from both first-generation and second-generation immigrants. The first-generation immigrants have the greatest difficulties in adaptation and often never learn to speak the new language properly enough. The second-generation immigrants, on the contrary, speak English with no accent and often prefer American way of life rather than the one of their ancestors. The “1.5 generation” immigrants are the ones who come to a new country at their teens and soon have no difficulties with the language and traditions. But at the same time they do not forget the traditions of their native country and, when they are given a chance to choose, instinctively prefer native land’s food and holidays.
8. In the last paragraph oh her essay, Kim refers to the events of 9/11 saying that an old playmate of hers whom she had not seen for years came to the place where she worked as a volunteer in search of his brother. I believe that this episode shows that whatever your nationality or your social status is, all people become equal in the face of a tragedy.
