Literature Analysis

Anzia Yezierska wrote the short story, America and I. Anzia moved from a Polish ghetto to the Lower East Side of Manhattan and writes many different short stories from the point of view of immigrants. This particular short story, America and I, was about an immigrant from Russia who moved to America in hopes to find more opportunities; however, when she arrived in America she was deeply disappointed. She quickly found her perception of what America would be like was far off. In the beginning of the story she states what she thought America was like, “Ach! America! From the other end of the earth from where I came, America was a land of living hope, woven of dreams, aflame with longing and desire” (68). America was known to be “the land of opportunity” which is what the immigrant hoped to find. This perfect land meant that it would be easy to find work and earn good money so that they would be able to live a life of happiness. This quote shows what America was perceived as to “outsiders”. Because America had a good reputation, immigrants from all over the world wanted to move so that they could have the chance to live the “American dream”. First thing first, the character knew that they needed to have money in order to live this dream lifestyle, “Bit from my high visions, my golden hopes, I had to put my feet down on earth. I had to have food and shelter. I had to have the money to pay for it”. This quote shows in order to be able to live the lifestyle people dream about money is needed, and the only way people earn money is by getting a job. Therefore, right away the character entered America and was forced to find a job. The first job she found was working for an American family. She explains how excited she was to earn her wages after her first full month of work, “Like a prisoner in his last night in prison, counting the seconds that will free him from his chains, I trembled breathlessly for the minute I’d get the wages in my hand” (70). This shows how important money is to Americans. Labor is money, money is survival, survival is happiness.
People often forget how important jobs are in America. The saying, “amount of money does not define happiness” is a saying in which everyone wants to believe, but finds it hard because most things in life have a price. So, how do people find happiness if they must work? Within the article Anzia Yezierska discovers the key to happiness, “Happiness is only by working at what you love” (74). If a person enjoys their work and is passionate about it then one will be happier. Anzia Yezierska was a great example of this; right when she came into America she had to find work in order to stay off the streets, so she found a job in which she had no passion or love for and laboriously worked. She knew this way of life was not the one in which she had hoped America would have in store for her. This example shows if love for work is not found then happiness will never be established. Because Anzia was never given the chance to discover what she loved, she was never happy, showing that in order for people to be happy they must work with something they enjoy.
Later in the story the main character quits working for the American family because she wants to earn a consistent income so that she would be able to live a life of her own, instead of dictated by the American family. She quickly transitions to work in a sweatshop of a Delancey Street basement sewing on buttons. Working in this sweatshop gave her the freedom she wanted, but wasn’t nearly enough to allow her to live the “American Dream”, “The money I earned was hardly enough to pay for bread and rent. I didn’t have a room to myself. I didn’t even have a bed” (72). This little amount of money earned shows the typical wage for people working in sweatshops. Her hours she worked were long and laborious and the conditions in which she worked were poor. Working in sweatshops were not peoples first choice, however the need for money was so high that people were forced to work under bad condition, for low wages and long hours.
Coming to America was not all that people originally thought it would be. Work was a part of a harsh lifestyle. Through the story it was stressed how much labor is a part of lives, whether by choice or not. Work is the only way people earn a consistent income, and because money is an American necessity.

Yezierska, Anzia. “America and I.” Jewish Stories: Ilan Stavans. New York: Oxford, 1998. 69-77. Print