Culture And Identity In The Great Melting Pot

Middlesex shows the assimilation process and what comes out at the end of it all, complete loss of culture shapes identity and something unidentifiable takes its place. For Lefty to keep his job at the factory he had to participate in a pageant, the "Ford English School Melting Pot", in which they must take off their 'immigrant costumes" and dress in "blue and gray suits... waving American flags" (104-105). At that point in time and even to this day there is a glorification of one's destruction of culture and ethnic identity, clear in the response of "thunderous applause" for these men's transformation (105). The whole point of an assembly line that Ford creates and encourages, is to be another faceless cog in this machine. In the end of his …show more content…
Ethnic identity is important and should not be destroyed to live and succeed in one's new home, instead cultural diversity and appreciation are needed. Fostering cultural diversity starts in a classroom. To begin to encourage students to research and share ethnic backgrounds and retain a culturally responsive teaching that can allow and open the door for a student of any ethnicity or racial background to develop an identity. Some may say that some cultures have restrictive gender roles or prejudices, thus assimilation is better, but it should not be at the expense of one's entire culture. Cal's narrative journey through the Stephanides history is a cautionary tale of what assimilation looks like as a long term assessment for immigrants, leaving culture behind should not be encouraged and cultural diversity should not be discouraged. We live in a time of tolerance, of support and glorification of differences, so immigrants should not be held to a different standard than fellow Americans. The world is made up of so many different cultures and beliefs and worldviews and sexualities, each is unique and complex, and without diversity, the consequence would be