Approaches to a New Society

Sergio Arredondo
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

The thought of completely starting over terrifies many people. While this is only a fear for a few, for immigrants this is a reality. Immigrants have to completely abandon their old life and start over. These people now have to pick themselves up and grow accustomed to a whole new way of life. Immigrants go about this change differently. Some decide to assimilate while others try and embrace their roots even more.

In “The Arrangers of Marriage” we see both these approaches to immigration in action. In this short story we see a young women immigrate to the states because she found herself an arranged husband. This husband appears to be promising since he is a doctor. However as Chinaza Okafor meets her new husband she sees that in reality he is poor and still has a ways to go to be a doctor. She comes to find out that her new husband Ofodile, or his American name Dave, has chosen to assimilate to American culture. When Agatha Bell, Chinaza Okafor’s new American name given to her by Dave, decides to cook an authentic meal from her homeland he informs her that he would rather not be known as the African family. Dave believes that they would be more accept4d if they learn to cook American food. Agatha however would much rather stay close to her culture and cook the African food.

This argument is a prime example of different approaches to immigration. One could chose to immerse themselves in the new society to grow closer to their new neighbors. While this may seem like an easier option this creates a situation where the immigrant grows away from their original culture. Or an immigrant could chose to emerge themselves in their old society. While this may make them slightly more distant to the new society they simultaneously grow closer to fellow immigrants there. Ultimately neither option is right or wrong. Immigrants have to choose an option that works best for them.

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