Far And Away Analysis

Far and Away successfully conveyed American society for immigrants in the 1890s by including realistic push and pull factors, the lure of advertisements, the diversity in immigrants, ethnic neighborhoods, and differences between the aristocrats and the poor.
In Far and Away, Joseph Connelly faced poverty and inadequacy in land. When his father died, the audience learned that he and his brothers were left with all of their father’s debt. Because the rent wasn’t paid, the house was burned down, leaving them with nothing but the land and debt. These events served as push factors to get Joseph to leave Ireland. He realized that there was nothing promising left in his home. He revealed earlier in the movie that he dreamed of having his own land to farm. The availability and the alleged ease of obtaining land in America therefore was Joseph’s pull factor.
Joseph was among the poorest Irish. The high class shown in the movie consisted of Landlord Daniel Christie and Stephen Chase, abusers in the eyes of the Irish tenants. Joseph and several other Irish people were suppressed from economic and social advancement because of this system that created poverty and a big schism between the rich and the poor.
Like most immigrants, Joseph and Shannon were blinded
This was seen because of the people selling flags from different nations. There was a person shown selling American flags too, which illustrated the desire of the immigrants to assimilate to American culture. The vendor selling them shouted, “Be an American!” By buying the flags, the newly arrived immigrants would be showing their “spirit” or “loyalty” for America. In the background, people of different cultures can be seen, some seemingly reuniting with family already there in Boston. Different languages were being spoken, as well as with different accents. This shows the diversity in immigrants, but the majority were