This photograph is entitled Father and Sons and was taken in the Springs, California by Wing Young Huie. This picture captures three presumably Hispanic men in their home holding photographs of loved ones from their homeland. In the background, a lamp without a shade sits on a metal folding chair under a poster of Mickey Mouse and several other Disney characters.
The first man, the father, looks forlorn and pensieve, as if gazing into an unknown future. The second man, the first son, looks defensive or angry. The third man looks blank and emotionless, with a slightly melancholy glaze behind his eyes. At first glance, the men are dressed nicely, in collared shirts. However, the third man has paint spattered across his jeans, indicating that they may be old or that he works a "blue collar" job.
This photograph is a strong representation of the "othering" that occurs due to immigration processes. Primarily, many immigrants are forced to leave family members and friends behind in order to begin their new lives. This causes many immigrants to be alone in a new country, and therefore alienated.
In addition, the racism in many MEDCs such as the United States leaves immigrants without jobs, relationships, and success. Such alienation is portrayed in Huie's photograph. The three men from two separate generations are alone without multiple family members. They are portrayed as unhappy, and their undecorated, small looking home reflects an unsuccessful life for the men.
An important point that Huie wishes to make in this photograph is mentioned in her blog. She explains the Mickey Mouse poster behind the men. It is there due to their belief that if they visit Disney World, they will truly have found success in the United States. Huie reports that they have not yet found it.
"Othering" is portrayed in this work through socioeconomic class and race. Huie uses the depressing setting and attitude to portray a growing international issue in which othering is prominent. Similarly, in The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood uses the difference between social class to portray "othering." For example, Atwood uses the commander/handmaid relationship to portray the different treatments and privileges that are received based on social class. Similarly in this work, a difference in social class and race has robbed these men from many privileges that natives of their migrant country may enjoy.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Print.
Huie, Wing Young. Father and Sons. Wing Young Huie, 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.<http://know.wingyounghuie.com/>\
"The Handmaid's Tale." Spark Notes. SparkNotes LLC, 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.< http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/handmaid/characters.html>.
Strong analysis- I like how you incorporated outside knowledge to help further your analysis. Be sure to treat each text equally- you cite an example of othering in THT in the relationship between Offred and the commander, but your argument would have benefited from specific examples from the text.
ReplyDeleteI liked the point you made about how the immigration process in America causes 'othering' to occur. I completely agree. I feel like there is a lot of hostility and negative views towards immigration in America. I think we forget that these people coming into the country are actually people. They are people who have families, struggles, hopes, and dreams. I believe the majority of the American society wants to isolate and blame immigrants for certain problems because they speak a different language and have a different cultural values. I also liked the connection you made to THT. The Commanders definitely received different privileges than the Handmaids. For starters, Handmaids had to always be with a partner whenever they were in public and were limited to very specific locations, such as the food stores. Commanders could venture out alone and could go to places restricted to the rest of the society, such as Jezebels.
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