Assimilation Is The Key To Happiness.

Assimilation is necessary. Pretty must Assimilation is what started the US expansion. Early immigrants who can to the New World had to assimilate inorder to function properly in the society. If they did not then they would not be able to live a well-balanced lifestyle with they community around them. We need assimilation in order the check on the others around us. The world has a set of standards and guidelines that every one must follow inorder to keep a sane and functional civilization. Allowing immigrants to come over and continue there foreign customs in public view would make the native people uncomfortable. It would also cause them to become defensive. Yes we do learn for the immigrants and yes they do perform many of our household/ essential jobs but if it weren’t for us giving them the opportunity to take on these jobs then where would they be. Since they work of us they should be willing to assimilate somewhat or at least when they are in the public. Assimilation is seen as a state of change. When new immigrants come to America they want to be seen as equals. There must be a reason why they want to come to the US. Yes it could be from troment or other things but how are you going to say that its ok for some one to come to the US and not assimailte not even a little. Just look at it from the other end if an Anerican was to go to Europe are not assimilate, first he would be totally shunded from the comunities but also he would not be able to function propertly in his new world. The eurpean way and the American way are very different. If you don’t want to assimilate and learn the ways then one one should not even come across the seas. The native people change the immigrants into what the culture or society expects. Sooner or later the immigrants will no longer seem to be immigrants, as they want, they will seem to be similar to every one else because of assimilation. This is in the public view, at home immegrants can do what ever they want.

Debate Response

Assimilation is a culture killer. Immigrants come to this nation only knowing their costumes and way of life. It is impossible for us to expect people arriving in this nation to forget their old ways and just take on a completely different identity. In the society we live in today, it is hard for us not to understand and welcome the diversity of others. Here at the University of Redlands we claim to be diverse and accepting of other people’s beliefs and culture. Immigrants bring in new ideas into out society. Asian immigrants have made their mark in the technical industry. Mexican immigrants have provided a service no one else will do for the wages. Immigrants keep this country advancing with their different ideas. Eli knew that immigrants could be useful to society. “Greenie” was never given the chance to prove what skills he had to offer to society. Immigrants are not a source of concern for people.

Debate: Is Assimilation a Necessity?

I'll take that assimililation is a not necessity as my arguement and my partner will argue that assimilation is a necessity. It should be interesting to see both sides the assimilation arguement.

Modern Day Orthodox Jews

Professor Oster had pointed out something very important to my attention. While I earlier stated that immigrants will eventually assimilate into American culture, that isn’t always the case. There are orthodox Jewish communities throughout the U.S., particularly in L.A. and New York. She points out that they still dress like “greenie” in and still speak Yiddish and their prayer is spoken in Hebrew. So the question is how they kept their culture and way of life all these years while others felt the need to assimilate? I would say that they kept to themselves. Like Tzuref did with his following, modern Orthodox Jews avoided integrating into American society. They were able to find a system of support within their own community and therefore didn’t have to go outside of their small community of people that shared their same beliefs.

“And, with a few exceptions, they are still often living in relative ease with their surrounding communities.”

This comment was taken from a comment on this post. I would completely agree that modern Orthodox Jews are able to live with the surrounding communities. Today’s modern day Orthodox Jews are accepted with ease in society because society has change a lot in the last 50 years. We live in a society that is more accepting of people different and diversity isn’t only welcome, but encouraged. As discussed in Eli, the Fanatic, Woodenton was considered a “modern community,” but was not even close to as accepting as we are today of people of different religion, race, or beliefs. While I might have generalized about immigrants always assimilating, society today is more accepting of their way of life and beliefs.

Stepping Out Of The Social Order

How Does Emerson idea of social order relate to Eli, the Fanatic?

In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, Self Reliance, Emerson’s argues for forming our own opinions and standing up for our own beliefs. “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,--that is genius (Emerson, Self Reliance).” Emerson would respond to the story of Eli, the Fanatic by agreeing with the actions of Eli. Eli is doing what he feels is right and not conforming to the opinions of others. As the story progresses, Eli has a goal of finding peace between the two sides. “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried (Emerson, Self Reliance).” Eli doesn’t know what the outcome of his final actions will be, but knows he must try to understand what it really means to be “greenie” in a society that doesn’t accept him. Eli was willing to go outside the norm and try something different. Emerson’s essay, Self Reliance, would say that Eli had become a “nonconformist” and by lessoning to the voices in when hi is alone, he is truly an individual.

By condoning Eli’s actions, he would say the towns’ people are in the wrong. “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members (Emerson, Self Reliance).” The town as a whole was stopping Eli from being who he really wanted to be. Throughout Eli’s life he tried to break out of what society told him he should be and when he did they said he was having a breakdown. When Eli steps outside of the social order, he reveals to society what is wrong with it and society as a whole is unable to accept their shortcoming. So instead of their flaws, societies cover them up and don’t even bother facing them. That meant Eli had to be removed from society until he could re-conform to American ideals. “The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs (Emerson, Self Reliance).” Eli reverted to his old customs and ignored the realities that have been forced upon him. The story of Eli, the Fanatic is an excellent look at Emerson’s theory of self reliance and shows how society glorifies conformity when the individual should be more significant.

Response to Put My Shoes On And See How It Feels

But is he really or is the town set on the morals that anyone who does not assimilate to their ways is crazy?

This is a very interesting question Jared raises and it can be looked at from both sides. First is from the side of the towns a person. The town hired Eli to solve their problem of the newly arrived Eastern European Jews into their small suburb community. While they were also Jewish, they had already assimilated into America’s mainstream culture and didn’t want other Jewish people coming into the community and giving them a bad reputation. The Jewish towns’ people are extremely concerned about they are perceived by others in their “modern community.” The values that they choose to follow are emphasized by the idea that “you must work a full day (249).” They look down at Leo Tzuref and his small gathering of followers because they don’t buy into this idea of hard work and the American way. We are all guilty of looking at someone and saying they are different then me. That is how the towns’ people feel when they see “greenie” walking through the town, but while we would bite our tongue, they go as far as asking him to change. It was a different time period back then and society reacted to things that were different in a different way. Society as a whole stressed conformity while today it welcomes individuality. While I would never say the towns’ fears were justified, this story takes place right after World War II and during the start of the Cold War. People’s fears were played upon and being normal kept you off the radar. The town wasn’t crazy, they were just responding to the fears of the time period. The only town can be considered crazy to expect the newly arrived European Jews to completely assimilate into American culture right away because it took their families a generation or two to become fully assimilated.

Looking at this conflict from the side we see a small community of Eastern European Jews that have lived through the horrors of World War II and were looking for a place to practice their religion and way of life without being bothered about their ways. I would not say they are crazy either. The only way of life they know is the one from back in Europe and it will take time, maybe even generations for them to assimilate into the American way of life. While they are breaking the zoning laws, I think that is just an excuse to make them leave. Tzuref sees all the children as his family and argues that why he should be allowed to teach them in his house. The problem we have here comes down to a culture clash. It is impossible to say one side is crazy and the other is not. While over time the two cultures will find an understanding for each other, Eli wanted it to happen right away. Eli was crazy in this story. Not because he thought both sides could change, but because he wanted it to happen over night. He wanted to let both sides see that the other side is not as bad as the other side thinks. He tried to rush a process that takes at least one generation to start seeing change. Eli isn’t an unassimilated Jewish immigrant but feels the need to understand what it means to walk in “greenies” shoes. While he is able to form an understanding of what “greenie” goes through, he isn’t greenie. He was a respected member of society and a man the represented the law. By taking on the rule of an unassimilated Jewish immigrant he challenged the law which he was suppose to support and uphold. While you could argue that all sides in this argument are have some form of craziness, it is impossible to put soul blame of the outcome to this story on one side.

Put My Shoes On And See How It Feels.

What is it like to step inside of another names shoes and take on everything that man is? One would have to first deny all of his prier existence and conform the ways of another. If you look at it, the change would almost drive a man crazy. Especially if you have to change back to your past life in which you were told to forget because the society in which you lived believed it was wrong.In the beginning Eli is fixed on conforming the Jewish man that comes to Woodenton. But why should being Jewish in a non-Jewish town make a difference? “This town is a modern community, we have out families, and we pay taxes”(P. 249). The town does not want anything or anyone destroying what they have developed and established in their town. Eli is ordered to change Tzuref’s ways and have the Jewish man conform to the town’s standards. Why does having a Jewish man really vex the town? Is it his morals, his look or the fact that he has not assimilated to what other people want him to be? Eli writes a letter to Tzuref explaining the town’s situation and feelings toward this Jewish man. “This is the twentieth century and we do not think it too much to ask that the members of our community dress in a manner appropriate to the time and place” (P.262). Little does Eli know that this man has given up all he has with only this suit to serve God. “To take away the one thing a man got?.. Not take away replace…but I tell you he has nothing. Nothing. You have that word in English?”. Eli doesn’t even understand what this man has gone through and the situations he has been placed into. Eli can only think of compromising with the man inorder to have him slowly assimilate to the ways of the town. Eli needs to realize that’s think is not possible in the eyes of the Jewish man. What if Eli was to wear or take on the traits and “suit” of this man? To truly understand and mans life you first need to have an open mind and take on the “suit” of another man. This opportunity is soon presented to Eli. Because Eli feels connected to this man through age, he takes on his suit. Before he does he first gives up his most prized green suit, which represents assimilation and conformity. In this, the Jewish man takes on his green suit but what the out come was not what was in mind. Even though this man is now shaped to the town, they still are not pleased. “The point is you wont know” Eli believes that once you change the out ward appearance of a man society will acknowledge him. But the town is set that “we just don’t think this is the community for them”. In order to know what this man is all about. Eli takes on his suit thinking that when he puts it on he will feel dirty but as he reaches to the pockets and sees nothing wrong, Eli begins to understand that this man is just the same man as Eli. As he continues to take on this suit the town that once loved him turns against him and send him to an assign asylum because now Eli is acting strange. But is he really or is the town set on the morals that anyone who doses not assimilate to their ways are crazy?

American vs. European Jews

World War II displaced the Jewish people more so then any other war in modern history. The rift it caused between Jewish people that experienced it and Jewish people who didn’t was enormous. European Jewish had kept to their strict code of religious order and they were persecuted for their practices throughout Europe. Jews that had left Europe and were now living in America had lost their contact with the world they once knew and many of the “old” ways and practices were left behind. The tension between American Jews and European Jews is shown in this reading when Tzuref doesn’t understand why zoning laws and what a man wears is so important to Eli and the community. Tzuref and his following had been through a lot during the war and don’t understand why people can’t sympathize with what they had gone through and let them be. Tzuref starts to lecture Eli about the things that he lost in the war and Eli doesn’t understand what he is talking about. So Tzuref responds, “No news reached Woodenton (264).” Tzuref is surprised about how little the Woodenton people knew about what happened to the Jewish people during the war. Tzuref is challenging the town Woodenton’s compassion and understanding of events outside of their boundaries. Woodenton is a small Jewish and Protestant community that has isolated itself from the true problems of the world and taught itself to focus on minor things like zoning laws and what a man wears. While many American Jews are only first or second generation, they have assimilated into the American culture and taken on their set of values. They can no longer relate to the Jews from Europe and don’t even think the newly arrived Jewish people could even assimilate if they were given the chance. They forget that it was their grandparents that were in the same position when they immigrated to America. The struggle here is how to European and American Jews find happy median. Eli went way over board and was found crazy, they towns people wanted the radical European Jews out, and Tzuref just wanted to be left alone to raise his children the only way he knew. The story doesn’t come up with and answer to this question. One would just have to imagine that conflict would still arise between the different groups until the foreign group eventually assimilated, but that just doesn’t happen over night.

Summary and Thoughts

Eli, the Fanatic talks about the postwar American Jews who are taking to the American lifestyle with open arms. It is a short story about a young lawyer, Eli, dealing with ethical issues in his community. Eli has been assimilated, and his main goal is to get the Jewish man in the old, black suit to follow his footsteps in changing first his character, by wearing the green suit, and then change his identity. Leo Tzuref is a survivor of the war that stands for the man in the black suit. Because he believes one should not have to give up ones morals and identity to fit in. Eli is stuck between choosing a man in a lawyer’s suit and his neighborhood. He goes as far to tell Tzuref that it would have been better in prewar Europe "for Jews and Gentiles to live beside each other in amity" Roth's challenges Eli, a lawyer, with two opposing ideas, one of man's expedient law and the other God's absolute Law. There is a biblical illusion that comes to mind when you think of the assimilated Eli. When Eli takes the greenhorn's black suit, we may think of Eliyahu, (1 Kings 21) taking on his mantle, and being devoted to the Lord and not to Baal. Through the underwear, the new Byzantine mosaic entrance to Ted's shoe shop, and the ironic statement of the passage "Excuse me, rabbi, but you're wanted…in the temple", Roth deepens the crisis in which Eli is going through. Maybe it is Eli that is flipping out or is it that he is purely agreeing with Tzuref?
At the start Eli is focused and determined, but we later find that Eli is actually mixed up because of his wife, career and surroundings. He is determined that man in the suit to take off what he is wearing (the black suit - identity) and put on Eli’s green, lawyer suit (assimilation). The Black suit represents old, traditional, European ways. By changing suits, the man would have to change his culture. The Black suit shows that the man is not assimilated, especially since all the traditional Jewish males wore them. It represents their isolationism from the world. The men that wear the Black suits have their own attire, language and culture. Something that Eli gave up when he put on this green suit. Of course a suite dose not make a man who he is. It is the man inside of the suite that makes the man wearing it. I think Eli is so into his American way that he has lost his memory of who he used to be and what he believed.
http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/roth-philip-milton

Assimilation

What dose it mean to be assimilated and how does it effect you?
Assimilation, as defined by the social sciences, is the process of integration where immigrants are flushed into larger communities. In doing this, it creates for an instant loss of the characters of that immigrant which makes him different. When a immigrants comes to a new, the native people deem it nesisary to change the immigrant into what their culture has created to be normal. Looking at it from the host point of view, they are only doing this to keep order in their country. Also they do this inorder to help the imegrants get along in thier world. Mainly in doing this, It guides and helps the immegrent become one with socicety and allwos for an easyer life. If you look at it in the eyes of the immegrent, why should they change and what is the bid deal about living a life thats is not what they know. Over time these immigrants will no longer look or seem to be immigrants because they will now be seen to be as similar to every one else. A region where assimilation is occurring is at most times referred to as a melting pot. Assimilation may be voluntary. This is usually the case with most incoming immigrants. It may also be forced upon a group. This is usually the case with the receiving host country. Immigration may be used in other ways where immigrants have a greater interest to the political and economical leaders more than they would to the interest of the weak. National groups are strongly urged to assimilate however there is often much resistance in spite of the use of governmental force. Assimilation can have negative implications for national minorities. After assimilation, the distinctive features of the original culture will be minimized and may even disappear altogether. This is especially true in situations where the institutions of the dominant culture initiate programs to assimilate or integrate minority culture. One may think that "is it even possible for an individual to assimilate at all?" Ethnic minority individuaals who have regular association with non-ethnic minority people are often successful at assimilating. It has beeen argued that occurrences of assimilation are really only occurrences of compatibility of cultures. Is it hard to distinguish between situations where a given ethnic group has assimilated and situations where said group has merely become a contributing sector of society? Most scholars of immigration, say that immigrants often fit into host societies through adaptation, more selectively than assimilation. These immegrents keep their ethnic characteristics and culture depending on how the culture meets their needs in the host society. Assimilation commonly includes the conversion of religious members of a minority group, especially Judaism. Before the mid-19th century, most Jews were forced to live in small towns and limited to thir education. The only way Jews could get ahead in the host culture was to forget their identification with co-religionists and become assimilated Jews. In the the 20th century, rapid assimilation in the form of Jewish-Christian intermarriage whithered the ranks of Orthodox Judaism pretty bad. Jewish law dose not recognize children of non-Jewish mothers as Jewish, and further, the children of intermarriage may not be raised with a strong Jewish identity and tend to intermarry themselves. Update of March 22, 2007 12:22 AM
http://health.enotes.com/public-health-encyclopedia/assimilation

First discussion question

How does Roth’s work compare to other Jewish American authors we have read?

Background Information on Philip Roth

Phillip Roth was born on March 19, 1933 in New Jersey. His parents were first generation Americans and trace their ancestry to Eastern Europe. He would earn his degree in English from Bucknell University and would go onto teach at the college level. His writing will be categorized as Jewish American Literature. His other books consist of The Facts: a Novelist’s Autobiography, Deception: A Novel, Patrimony: A Memoir, Operation Shylock, and The Plot Against America. Roth’s books have usually focused on some aspect of what it means to be Jewish during certain periods in history. He tends to look at the periods that aren’t prosperous for the Jewish people as a whole and shows how the Jewish people have faced changes and challenges.

http://orgs.tamu-commerce.edu/rothsoc/

Blog Topic

This blog is dedicated to Philip Roth’s writing on Jewish assimilation. By using Roth’s Eli, the Fanatic, we will discuss how people of the Jewish faith entered American society and how they were treated my other sections of the American population.