Immigrants By Par Mora

“Immigrants,” by Par Mora, covers the actions that immigrants take in order to assimilate into the American culture. Mora’s poem touches on a variety of different ideas, but the idea that stands out the most as the primary theme of this poem is that immigrants feel that they need to “fit in.” However, though immigrants of the past would certainly follow this trend, the immigrants of today follow a different set of rules. The poem’s central theme is undoubtedly one of “fitting in.” This notion is visible in the stereotypical overly patriotic actions that immigrants may take in order to appear as American as physically possible. These types of actions the first line of the poem as Mora writes, “wrap their babies in the American flag.” This quote can even be take symbolically as immigrants “wrap” their baby in all things American in order to raise them with an American mindset. However, in order to do this, according to Mora, the parents need to suppress their origins and forget about their heritage all together. In doing this, Mora alludes the idea that immigrants feel ashamed of where they come
In today’s world, we consistently see that immigrants refuse to relinquish their culture in order to appear more American. In fact, many immigrants embrace their heritage through setting up communities or creating parades and festivals specifically for their nationality. In the past, it may have been more common for immigrants to attempt to Americanize their children at the expense of their culture. However, while some immigrants will still shed their origins in order to “fit in,” most will now embrace their culture or attempt to mesh it with American society. This will most likely continue to be the case in the United States as the concentration of those who are currently minorities continues to