The Lost "Beautifulness"
The Lost "Beautifulness" written by Anzia Yezierska as part of her short story collection Hungry Hearts (1920) highlights the life of Hannah Hayyeh, showcasing the hardships of living in early twentieth century America with the impact and overflowing population due to the effects of immigration in East. The story follows Hannah and her longing for her son to come home from the army and how she paints a picture of him to demonstrate her love for him and to greet him home into a space that emanates the ideology of freedom and beauty. The representation of the longing for Hannah to create this perfect kitchen and painting, although she cannot really afford to do this grand gesture, it signifies the contrast between the realities of civilization and society, versus the individual.
Significantly, this ties in with the underlying theme of the 'American Dream' which was a concept later defined in the 1930s which identified the notion of liberty and sovereignty that every American searched for. However, the reality is that Hannah is just an individual, part of a very large population due to the increase of immigrants that were all striving for the same goal, to succeed and attain American liberty. Hannah even identifies the dream, which for immigrants at the time, was to be American, as she stated: '... I want to make myself for an American.' This suggests that monetary success and wealth was not just part of the dream, it was to withhold the status of being an American. Hannah also states: "Making money ain't everything in life. My new-painted kitchen will light up your heart with joy." This conveys how Hannah does not believe in the materialistic attributes that are so typically associated with the American Dream, instead, she mentions how her newly decorated kitchen will serve this; this sense of liberty and peace as everyone comes together. However, it could be understood that the kitchen symbolically represents the idea of the 'melting pot' since the metaphor would suggest a kitchen brings everyone together to eat which is a necessity to survive, which in turn signifies America that it is a place or space that can bring everyone together to help one another to survive and enjoy life.
Conversely, at the end of the story which reality hits Hannah when her family are struggling to survive to pay rent, her anger and emotion runs over her, causing her to destroy all her hard work in the kitchen and the painting that she had been working so hard on. Referring back to the idea of the metaphor and the American Dream, it suggests how not everyone will succeed and it begs the question does the American Dream require hard work or luck?
Soap and Water
Soap and Water written also by Anzia Yezierska as part of her Hungry Hearts short story collection describes the story of a young woman who really experiences the tumult of life as an immigrant who is trying to get an education to become a teacher, even though she does 'Eight hours of work a day, outside my studies.' The title of the story reflects how the young woman is treated due to the aesthetic appearance of her, since her teacher failed her diploma due to how she looked, stating "Soap and water are cheap. Any one can be clean." This highlights the seminal theme of 'don't judge a book by its cover' since a reflection of the outer being does not necessarily match the underneath. The portrayal of how she looks unclean and dirty reflects upon the conditions of the immigrants living in poverty or 'ghettos' in the early twentieth century since areas of New York especially became overcrowded. Although the woman's living conditions and her general everyday life was hard, she states in the story, 'My body was worn to the bone from overwork, my footsteps dragged with exhaustion, but my eyes still sought the sky, praying, ceaselessly praying, the dumb, inarticulate prayer of the lost immigrant: "America! Ach, America! Where is America?"' - This identifies the major moral of the story that you have to work hard in order to achieve, which in America, the strife was for the All-American Dream, hence this 'inarticulate prayer' she speaks of shows how it is just an ideology, there is no certain outcome. However, she still chanted this and longed for it, just as immigrants did to have the chance to create a better life.
Although the young woman's life follows the notion of the American Dream of trying to go from 'rags to riches', she does get rejected which again highlights similarly to the other story, that this is reality. However, at the end of the story when by chance the woman meets an old teacher, this exemplifies the notion of luck versus hard work which juxtaposes the other story, identifying the moral between how everyone has a different experience and idea of the American Dream. She concludes the story, declaring "America! I found America." This summarises how unique the 'dream' and experience is to everyone, as this belief and ideology that immigrants and people of America had, they determined when they found it or when they achieved it, which proposes the idea as to why it is so universal amongst everyone because each individual determines it in their own way, making it so extraordinary and most importantly still prevalent today.
It takes a Woman - William S. Hubbartt
Source: http://www.ropeandwire.com/FullStories/It_Takes_a_Woman.html
This short Western tale, It takes a Woman written by William S. Hubbartt tells the story, set in the West midway between the California central valley and the Sierra's, of 'Mountain Mike', who spent most of his life in the West living off the land as a 'hunter, trail guide and friend of the Indians.' After an incident where a man named Ebenezer and his partner Jackson try to steal part of the Trainer family fortune, they also steal a gold shipment from a riverboat where Ebenezer pushes the daughter Anne Trainer of the boat and takes her hostage. The rest of the short story discusses how the Trainer family seek help from local Mountain Mike to help find Anne as they go on the hunt to find her; a typical quest narrative that is generally associated with the Western genre. What subverts the traditional elements of the genre is when Mike and Anne's brother get trapped by Ebenezer and Jackson and get held at gunpoint, it is Anne, the original hostage who escapes and saves Mike and her brother. This unconventional ending highlights the moral lesson that it doesn't take necessarily a man to fight and earn justice, women can achieve this too, which in turn suggests how everyone has the freedom and power to defend themselves and succeed.
In comparison with the other two short stories, this Western tale also presents the female as the main protagonist of the story which creates an understanding in analysing the stories together as a whole by not just viewing these immigrants as 'other' which females are traditionally viewed as. Again, it reinforces the notion of the woman being able to obtain the American Dream, particularly in the context of the early twentieth century when women were fighting for their rights, which demonstrates how you can create a better life for yourself, one that is prosperous, gives you liberty and leads you on to your own successes, which ultimately is defined as the American Dream.
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