Case Studies: Immigration Control By Willa Cather

The topic of immigration has been and is still today a very highly controversial topic. The secondary source that I researched brings to light many of the views of immigration already mentioned in My Ántonia. The secondary source, “Case Studies: Immigration Control” by BBC supports many of the claims that Willa Cather emphasizes in her book which makes it a strong secondary source. Immigration is not stated nor seen as a bad thing in My Ántonia as it clearly tries to let the world know of the harsh conflicts that immigrants are often faced with. The secondary source and My Ántonia both support the claim that immigration is not detrimental in any way but rather often helps countries in many ways such as maintaining a stable economy. Immigration
The text emphasizes the hardships that immigrants often have to endure when going into a new country in the search of a better life or the American dream as many call it. The text potentially symbolizes America’s people as well as its culture because America has and is still today very diverse due to the wide variety of races, religions, and cultures that immigrants introduce when they come here. America can be seen as a melting pot because the different nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities of immigrants eventually “melt” together to create a common culture although several immigrants choose to retain their culture no matter what. The majority if not all immigrants leave behind everything they know and love to try and get a better life in a new country where there are more opportunities. America has always been a popular choice for immigrants as it has a plentiful of resources to offer such as employment, freedom of religion, and better education programs. Immigrants often choose to leave their home country because they have a family to sustain and their home country is simply not adequate for their necessities. In My Ántonia Willa Cather really focuses on the struggles that immigrants face upon arriving to their new country. People often think it is easy for immigrants to simply leave and go into other countries but Willa proves that it is quite the opposite. Immigrants do not immediately get a better life upon arriving to a new country which is depressing but it is the truth. Immigrants still have to face new problems that come with the change of countries. The problems that immigrants face in the new countries can sometimes be worse than the problems they faced at home which can be really discouraging. Willa Cather portrays the hardships that many immigrants struggle through the story of the Shimerdas, “tony was barefooted, and she shivered in her cotton dress and was