"Hester Street"

Film Review # 60098

Ethnic Studies > North American
Film > Analysis, Criticism, Etc.
Sociology

"Hester Street"

This paper discusses problems of ethnic identity as depicted in the movie "Hester Street".

1,750 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the movie "Hester Street", the story of how the Jewish community was forced to reexamine its identity in order to live in America in 1896. The author points out that one of the reasons immigrants were treated poorly is that the more "native" Americans fear that they will lose their jobs to these men that are willing to work for so much less than they are. The paper relates that, to the more "native" Americans, immigration was like a passive invasion, in which, by degrees, their country was being filled with outsiders, until one day they would be the minority.

From the Paper:

"In the movie "Hester Street", the main character, Jake, in the rush to erase his own ethnic identity, falls short of his own ideals. His wife means the world to him but she is a daily reminder of the identity he has tried to erase and for that he abuses her mercilessly. "Hester Street" is a movie about the conflict of Americanization for Russian Jewish immigrants. Jake and Gitl, his wife, are Russian Jews. They live in a cramped tenement with countless other Jews. The women keep house and take care of children and the men work in sweatshops. The sweatshop that Jake works in is a sewing factory. He prides himself on being the best worker in the shop."