Funny in Farsi Immigration Essay
Nicola Rahman English-Ms.Esmail
America has often been called “The Land of the Free”, where opportunities are like the
bounteous fish caught at sea; the catch may be large or small, may come sooner or later. Just as the
Gold Rush prompted for many miners to come about, the promising opportunities have prompted for
immigrants to pour into in America. Although this chance for a new beginning has vastly beckoned
immigrants, there are sacrifices immigrants must make along with newfound chances. Succumbing to
social alienation is one of the sacrifices that immigrants must make. In the memoir, Funny in Farsi, by
Firoozeh Dumas, and the studies of Djuro J. Vrga on Differential Associational Involvement of Successive
Ethnic Immigrations: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants, the
depths of social alienation and its influence on immigrants are reviewed. Dumas’ memoir describes the
experience of an Iranian growing up in America, whilst Vrga’s study is applied to different sociocultural
aspects of life immigrants may encounter. Cultural differences in morality, ethics, values and political
standings all play an substantial role when discussing social alienation. However, more often than so,
the Americans are the social alienators while the immigrants are the socially alienated.
Though Americans were once so to speak—immigrants, as if Americans are rotten
crops from the harvests of heritage, immigrants are the freshly picked fruits of culture and tradition, and
a batch of flawless tomatoes obviously stand out amongst the rundown veggies. Firoozeh Dumas
highlights the awkward feelings entailed with social alienation as a theme throughout the memoir.
Dumas recalls on several occasions how uneasy and disturbing it is to be singled out,
America has often been called “The Land of the Free”, where opportunities are like the
bounteous fish caught at sea; the catch may be large or small, may come sooner or later. Just as the
Gold Rush prompted for many miners to come about, the promising opportunities have prompted for
immigrants to pour into in America. Although this chance for a new beginning has vastly beckoned
immigrants, there are sacrifices immigrants must make along with newfound chances. Succumbing to
social alienation is one of the sacrifices that immigrants must make. In the memoir, Funny in Farsi, by
Firoozeh Dumas, and the studies of Djuro J. Vrga on Differential Associational Involvement of Successive
Ethnic Immigrations: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants, the
depths of social alienation and its influence on immigrants are reviewed. Dumas’ memoir describes the
experience of an Iranian growing up in America, whilst Vrga’s study is applied to different sociocultural
aspects of life immigrants may encounter. Cultural differences in morality, ethics, values and political
standings all play an substantial role when discussing social alienation. However, more often than so,
the Americans are the social alienators while the immigrants are the socially alienated.
Though Americans were once so to speak—immigrants, as if Americans are rotten
crops from the harvests of heritage, immigrants are the freshly picked fruits of culture and tradition, and
a batch of flawless tomatoes obviously stand out amongst the rundown veggies. Firoozeh Dumas
highlights the awkward feelings entailed with social alienation as a theme throughout the memoir.
Dumas recalls on several occasions how uneasy and disturbing it is to be singled out,
Cited: Dumas, Firoozeh. Funny in Farsi. N.p.: Random House, Inc., 2003. Print. Differential Associational Involvement of Successive Ethnic Immigrations: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants Djuro J. Vrga Social Forces Vol. 50, No. 2 (Dec., 1971), pp. 239-248 (article consists of 10 pages) Published by: University of North Carolina Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2576942