It is a fact that almost all of the people in Canada are immigrants, or come
from immigrant descent. If it were not for the millions of people who have fled
to Canada in hope of a better life, Canada would never have prospered into what
it is today. As a result of this fact, it is hard to believe that immigrants are
still faced with many hardships when they enter Canada. Most immigrants have
good intentions in mind when coming to a new country. Immigrants coming to
Canada believe that they will be able to keep their culture, become successful
and prosper. These misleading hopes set the immigrant up for a life of
continuous disappointment. Canadian Literature portrays the immigrant experience
in a negative light. The Canadian experience for immigrants appears to be
programmed for failure. Immigrants try to adopt a new identity in hope that this
will enable them to succeed in the future. Venturing to new lands often compels
immigrants to isolate themselves from society, by holding onto their own
traditions and disregarding the new culture. Immigrants who seek to become
successful in Canada are often let down by what they have found, and are left
feeling fearful, desolate and helpless. Immigrant characters in Canadian
literature often express a fear of losing their identity and culture. For most
immigrants, culture is the only thing that truly belongs to them when they come
to a new country. In the novel The Black Madonna by Frank Paci, Assunta Barrone
is one of the main characters who has immigrated from Italy to a small town in
Northern Ontario. Her refusal to adapt or change herself in any way to become
more ‘Canadian’ exemplifies her desire to keep her Italian heritage. “It
had been a long time since she had stepped off that train with her dowry trunk.
And in all that time she had never ceased to puzzle him. He didn’t know
whether she had purposely refused to adapt to the new ways or if she was
incapable of doing so. She was certainly stubborn. She had strange old-country
customs that she insisted on maintaining even though they were primitive and
embarrassing” (Paci 11). Assunta’s desire to keep her customs was what
helped to preserve her Italian identity. By keeping her identity Assunta felt
like her homeland was somehow constantly with her. The poem “Alien” by Mary
Elizabeth Colman also exemplifies the immigrants fear of losing their identity.
“Dear hills of home, why did I leave your arms?/ How can I love this vast,
clamorous land?/ Whose noisy people hold me in contempt?” (Colman 9-11). This
immigrant is in fear of the new land which they have come to, and is afraid of
the people around them. Because immigrants hold their culture so close to them
when they travel to new lands, they defend it with every ounce of their being.
Without culture or identity immigrants are defenceless in a new country. The
immigrant in Canadian literature is often regretful of leaving their homeland
because of the disappointments they discover about Canada. Most immigrants
believe that getting a Canadian passport and citizenship is their key to
unlocking ‘the good life’ In Canadian literature the opposite of this occurs
because the ideal of what Canada is does not meet it’s reality. This is best
exemplified through the short story “Hunky” by Hugh Garner and the poems
“Land of Opportunity” by F.R. Scott and “I Fight Back” by Lillian Allen.
In the story “Hunky” the main character Hunky is a German immigrant working
in the tobacco fields for a very arrogant employer. Hunky wants nothing more
than to become a Canadian citizen because he feels that having his citizenship
is the key to obtaining ‘the good life’. “He placed great stress on the
fact that he hoped to become a Canadian citizen in the fall. His longing for
citizenship was not only gratitude and patriotism towards the country that had
given him asylum, but a craving for status as a recognized human being”
(Garner 135). The poem “Land of Opportunity” by F.R. Scott exemplifies the
disappointment of the Canadian status. “Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce/These are privileged names in my country/But I AM ILLEGAL HERE.”
(Scott, 2-4). The poem goes on to say “I come to Canada/And found the Doors/
of Opportunities Well Guarded ” (7-9). This poem expresses the immigrant
woman’s disappointments found when she came to Canada. In the poem “I Fight
Back” by Lillian Allen, the main character expresses the deep anger immigrants
have instilled against Canada. “Got involved in a Communist demonstration,/And
is now being deported by the Canadian Government./This will teach these foreign
reds/ The sort of country they’ve come to.” (Allen, l9-12). Immigrants are
often left disappointed because their images of Canada do not meet with the
ideal and truth of what the country is like. Immigrants in Canadian literature
are constantly struggling with denying their past in order to succeed in the
future. In Joy Kowaga’s “Obason” Naomi’s uncle struggles with his
identity. A families silence about the force of the interment of the Japanese in
Vancouver, compels Naomi to gather information on her dead uncle’s that has
been responsible for changing her life. Naomi’ s uncle was of Japanese sailor
whose ships had been taken over by the R.C.M.P. While Naomi searched through her
grandfather’s belongings she found a box box filled with her grandfathers old
boat building tools and a shoe box containing a document from the R.C.M.P. The
document stated that Naomi’s uncle must leave his area and report to the local
Registrar of Enemy Aliens where he will later be placed in an interment camp.
Even though, Naomi’s uncle was a Canadian citizen, the Canadian government
took over his ships because of his Japanese origin. Naomi’s uncle was robbed
not only of his ships, but so of his morals and ethics. By hiding his past in
shoe boxes he wanted nothing to with his Japanese origin. A letter was also
found from the Office of the Custodian from the Japanese Evacuation Section,
stating that it was not his fault nor the police, nor the men who rioted against
him that his ships had been taken over and he was placed in an interment camp.
The Canadian government was just doing their job (67). During World War II
injustice was the only thing that was constant in a world full of chaos.
Naomi’s uncle developed an inner conflict in coping with his identity. Hiding
all of possessions that resembled his past, Naomi’s uncle adopted a false
identity, which he thought was the only key to sucess in the future. Immigrants
try to adopt a new identity because they feel this is the only way they can
succeed in the unaccustomed lands. Although immigrants struggle with maintaining
their identity, they are often robbed of their heritage by unbeatable forces.
War and prejudice force immigrants to adhere to the ways of their new
surroundings and loose their old traditions. Joy Kowaga depicts this immigrant
experience through Naomi’s uncle’s life experiences. Being robed of his
ships and placed in an interment camp because of his heritage, forced Naomi’s
uncle to pull away from his past. Naomi follows in the footsteps of her uncle,
and tries to pull away from her heritage also. Naomi’s denial of her past is
exemplified in the quote, “ Our past is a s clotted as old webs hung in dark
attics , still sticky and hovering waiting for us to adhere and submit or
depart” ( 54). Naomi’s past wants to cling to her however she detaches from
herself from her culture by refusing to carry on the traditions of her Japanese
heritage. Naomi’s opposing views against her Japanese origin were moulded
during her adolescent years during World War II, when Canadians feared that the
Japanese would attack Canada just as they had bomed the United States at Pearl
Harbour. Leaving their past behind, immigrants struggle to survive by any means
possible. Naturally human’s are constant striving to survive. This constant
struggle compels human’s to change their culture, in order to contiue and
flourish. Immigrants in Canadian Literature are also faced with feelings of
isolation from society and the land. The isolation that immigrants experience is
usually isolation from society . Assunta Barrone’s character in The Black
Madonna is an example of how immigrants are socially isolated from society. In
the case of Assunta, however, this isolation is self-inflicted. The fact that
Assunta never really left her small Italian neighbourhood in the west end of
Sault Ste. Marie was the reason why she was socially isolated. Assunta does not
interact with anyone other than the Italian women in her neighbourhood.
“Assunta had never gone beyond short Sunday car rides to the outskirts of the
Sault.” (Paci 7). Even though Assunta was an ocean and a half away from her
homeland of Italy, she was still isolated from society. “It seemed she had
gone from one Italian village in Marche to another one in Northern Ontario-the
west end.” (11). Assunta’s refusal to learn the English language, also
contributed to her isolation from society. In the poem “Alien” by Mary
Elizabeth Colman, the main character also feels isolated by Canada’s land.
“I AM afraid. This land is strange to me,/So new, so fierce, so large, with
noisy folk.” (Colman lines1-2). The immigrant is isolated by the land because
it is so new for them. The poem goes on to say “How can I love this vast
clamorous land”(line 10). The main character portryed in the poem “Alien”
feels isolted in the unfamiliar land. Being in forgein surroundings, leaves the
immigrant feeling helpless and isolated. Throughout Canadian Literature
isolation has an extreme effect upon the developement of an individual’s
character. Immigrants in Canadian literature will at one point be faced with
isolation, but must think positively to overcome these feelings. Canadian
literature shows immigrant children to be embarrassed and shameful of their
heritage. It seems as though all children of immigrants try their hardest to
rise above and create a better life for themselves than what their parents
before them had. This is evident through the character of Marie in the novel The
Black Madonna. Marie works diligently at her school work because she feels that
her school smarts will help her rise above her past, and they do when she gets
accepted to university. “She would show her soon enough that she could do
things alone. Go to Toronto. Become a doctor even. There were even endless
possibilities once she got away. She would be so glad to be rid of them all.
She’d show them that she didn’t need them” (Paci 79). This quote shows the
hostility that Marie holds towards her heritage. Most Canadian works on the
immigrant portray immigrant children as being shameful of their past and longing
to escape the reality of who they really are. Feelings of emptiness and
helplessness seem to be inevitable for the immigrant in Canadian literature. For
the immigrant Canada is a land of reoccuring disappointments. Canadian
Literature is filled with failure because of immigrants origin. The novel The
Black Madonna is a good example in showing the many negative aspects of an
immigrants life. The main character Assunta portrays the many disappointments
immigrants are faced with when travelling to new lands. The short story
“Hunky” and poems “I Fight Back”, “Alien”, and “Land of
Opportunity” are works which portray the immigrant as a victim. “Hunky”,
“The Land of Opportunity” and “I Fight Back ”portray characters who are
disappointed with the immigrant experience. The immigrant struggle with identity
is exemplified in the short story “Obason” by Joy Kowaga. Denying his
Japanese origin Naomi’s uncle hoped to become successful in Canada. Canadian
works depict immigrant children as being embarrassed or shameful of their past.
Marie’s character in The Black Madonna and Naomi’s character in ‘Obason’
exemplify the immigrant children’s dishonourable attitude towards their
culture. It is unfortunate that immigrants must experience hardships during
their time in new lands. Immigrating to a new country should be an exceptional
opportunity enabling foreigners to become auspicious. Unfortunately, the only
lesson that immigrants embark upon when inhabiting among Canada’s vast land
is: Endurance, Survival, No Victory. In the past other Canadians made great
sacrifices so that we today can enjoy the freedom , the quality of life, and the
ezdard of living that we have. Hopefully, in time, immigrants will feel more
comfortable with life in new lands and adapt to the constant culture changes in
the world.

Bibliography
Allen, Lillian. “ I fight Back.” Canadian Poets. Canada: Little Brown and
Co., 1970. Colman, Mary Elizabeth. “Alien”. An Anthology of Canadian
Literature in English .Canada: Oxford University Press, 1990. Garner, Hugh. “
Hunky.” Canadian Poets. Canada: Little, Brown and Co., 1970. Kowaga, Joy. “Obason.”
An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English. Canada: Oxford University Press,
1990. Paci, Frank. The Black Madonna. Canada: Oberon Press, 1982. Scott, F.R.
“ The Land of Opportunity.” Canadian Content. Canada: Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1992.