Xenophobia In The Glass Roses By Alden Nowlan
Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of foreign people or ideologies, and is the forefront theme in the short story The Glass Roses by Alden Nowlan. Deeper than the idea of unsolicited hatred in society, is the idea of support and understanding which is heavily influenced by the aforementioned prevailing theme: xenophobia. Alden Nowlan attempts to convey subtly that those affected by xenophobia deal with a lack of support and/or understanding from others, as they are not considered prototypical of the society that they have chosen to live their lives in. There are a number of underlying emotionally destabilizing effects of xenophobia that are often caused by a lack of cultural understanding and consequently a lack of personal relationship and support
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This conversation and more accurately the quotes from the Father are the most direct and example of the xenophobia that is interlaced throughout the story: “Some of the men [has] been [laughing] about him [patting] and [poking] you... Them Wops and Bohunks and Polacks has gotta lotta funny ideas. You gotta watch them… Just make that Polack keep his hands off you… I [have] seen fellas like him before.” (54-55) The reader plainly sees that the Father has a hard time opening up to a foreigner, simply because he is closed-minded to the idea of understanding the cultural difference between Leka and the Canadians. He remains closed-minded due to the fact that he has met other foreigners that he did not get along with or understand and therefore will not even attempt to converse with or understand Leka. In addition, to be more detailed with the topic, it is outlined in the story that Leka is not even a Polack, which he is often referred to within the pulp camp by the workers. “I am not Polish… I am Ukrainian… Yesterday the Ukrainians were called Poles. Today they are called Russians.” (52) Leka is understanding and open with this seemingly frustrating detail to himself personally, as he is so misunderstood and very rarely approached or conversed with that he begins to identify culturally as what others say he is. He doesn’t try to debate or correct anyone that he is not
This conversation and more accurately the quotes from the Father are the most direct and example of the xenophobia that is interlaced throughout the story: “Some of the men [has] been [laughing] about him [patting] and [poking] you... Them Wops and Bohunks and Polacks has gotta lotta funny ideas. You gotta watch them… Just make that Polack keep his hands off you… I [have] seen fellas like him before.” (54-55) The reader plainly sees that the Father has a hard time opening up to a foreigner, simply because he is closed-minded to the idea of understanding the cultural difference between Leka and the Canadians. He remains closed-minded due to the fact that he has met other foreigners that he did not get along with or understand and therefore will not even attempt to converse with or understand Leka. In addition, to be more detailed with the topic, it is outlined in the story that Leka is not even a Polack, which he is often referred to within the pulp camp by the workers. “I am not Polish… I am Ukrainian… Yesterday the Ukrainians were called Poles. Today they are called Russians.” (52) Leka is understanding and open with this seemingly frustrating detail to himself personally, as he is so misunderstood and very rarely approached or conversed with that he begins to identify culturally as what others say he is. He doesn’t try to debate or correct anyone that he is not