The girl from the new family reminded Alvarez of her own plight when she had moved to the United States and had not yet been accepted completely by the community.Īlvarez immediately identified with this “look” which was “hardness mixed with hurt” due to the knowledge that “she could never be the right kind of an American” (Alvarez, Queens, 59-61). This gesture of the hand provides vivid imagery, literally creating an image in the reader’s mind. She wishes to be kind to the girl from the family but sadly is unable to do so.īefore she could make “a welcoming gesture” her “hand lifted but fell” (Alvarez, Queens, 54-55). Alvarez is hurt and dismayed not only by the attitude of the neighborhood community who treat the new family like a stigma, but the American society at large which is hostile to the African American family, after whose arrival she notices cop cars patrolling their block due to “rumors of bomb threats” (Alvarez, Queens, 12).Īlvarez sympathizes deeply for the new African American family which reminds her of her own struggles to be assimilated and accepted by the American society. Here the word ‘dirty’ is used as a connotation implying that the presence of the immigrant family is unhealthy and unclean. Here the word ‘dirtied’ is used figuratively. Scott swept her walk as if it had just been dirtied” after the family had walked by.
Racial intolerance is seen at its peak when “Mrs. Scott” (Alvarez, Queens, 36-40), but worried that the real estate prices would plummet with the arrival of the African American family.Īnother couple, the Scotts, considered “moving back home where white and black got along by staying where they belonged” (Alvarez, Queens, 23-24). Bernstein, who conceded that “it was time the neighborhood opened up” as “she remembered the snubbing she got a few years back from Mrs. Alvarez states that the seclusion of the African American family by her neighborhood was another desperate attempt to be like the American society, which does not welcome new immigrants.Īlvarez points to the hypocritical attitude of the neighborhood woman Mrs. These families were now practicing the same intolerance which they had faced when they had arrived. This prejudiced attitude shocked Alvarez who recollects how each of these families had once ought a hard battle for acceptance and assimilation into the American soil.
However, the arrival of “a black family” (Alvarez, Queens, 8) had suddenly caused the place to become inhospitable and unfriendly towards these new immigrants. Scott’ and his “plump Midwestern wife”, the ‘Jewish counselor’, and the ‘German’ family. She recollects the time when she and her family had moved in and “everyone seemed more American” than them (Alvarez, Queens, 1).Īlvarez uses specific words to vividly describe her multiculturally diverse neighborhood where people from different communities coexisted including the ‘Castelluccis’, the ‘Balakians’ ‘Mr. In the poem ‘Queens, 1963’ Julia Alvarez recalls her experience of moving to the United States from another land. Alvarez’s poems ‘Queens 1963’, ‘Dusting’, and ‘First Muse’ express her knowledge of cultural assimilation, acceptance and the search for identity by immigrant families. Her poems reflect her experience and sensitivity for new immigrant families which face similar difficulties. However, she gave vent to her feelings using poetry as a medium.
As a result of this, Alvarez had trouble adapting to a new culture, climate and people, and faced difficulty in coping with issues such as cultural differences and lack of acceptance.
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