Far And Away is a film about two Irish people who immigrated to America in the late 1800s. They both came from different backgrounds and different social classes, but had similar issues occur when they arrived in America. Joseph lived in a small town and when his father passed and his property was destroyed he went to find and kill who did this to him. While searching, he met Shannon, an upperclass young adult who wanted to go to America to own her own piece of land. Together they hopped on a boat and went across only to find that America wasn’t all they thought it would be.
The immigrant experience for these two individuals was a very difficult process. Shannon found a flyer that said everyone who went to America would automatically receive their own piece of land. Once they got there however, they found that this was not as easy as it seemed. They were looked at as being poor and “dirty” because of their heritage and social level. Even though Shannon was upper class in Ireland, she was not necessarily upper class in America. Both Shannon and Joseph had to work their way to the top. They both faced extreme living conditions, often going days without food and shelter and came quite close to death in a couple experiences.
Eventually, both Shannon and Joseph found that in order to get land, they needed to go to Oklahoma. They were practically giving out land in the Oklahoma Territory; all you had to do was compete in a race to claim their area. Everyone went off and after a struggle, Shannon and Joseph eventually fell in love and claimed a piece of land together.
Overall, the immigration process was extremely difficult for these two individuals. I am not sure how completely accurate or how common this was at that particular time period, but I feel that this movie was a pretty truthful example of what it was really like. Trying to live in America was extremely difficult for them. Like I stated earlier, even though you could have been considered “high class” in Ireland, you could easily be treated like scum in America. In America at this time, in order to be upper class you had to have money, otherwise, you were nothing. Shannon really struggled with this change because she was high class in Ireland. She lived in a giant house and owned horses and pretty much had everything handed to her. She wasn’t used to having to work for a living or being looked down upon. Joseph was never high class, but he wasn’t used to not having a home or food. He always had what he needed and never “struggled” to make ends meet. He never had to work like he did or box to make money, he always had enough to get by.
Far And Away is a film that has a very clear window into what it was like to immigrate in the late 1800s. Looking through Shannon and Joseph’s eyes made it very easy to see that emigrating from Ireland to America wasn’t all that it seemed like it would be and was really quite a difficult process. They both struggled immensely and really had a challenging transition into this whole new world. Eventually, they made it and succeeded, but it was a good look at what it was like to go through this experience.
What do you think it would be like to immigrate from Ireland to America today? Do you think it would be the same to immigrate from American to Ireland in the 1800's, the opposite of what Shannon and Joseph did then?
Good questions! I think it would be different since our current world is so connected. An immigrant from Ireland could secure a place to live, plane tickets, and a job all online before every leaving the country. The link between America and Ireland is now much clearer--America isn't seen as the land of hope like it was in Shannon and Joseph's time.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that immigrating today is much different than it was back then. First of all, I don't think there is as much of a idealization of America as there was back then. Secondly, as Laura already stated, modern technology has made every global issue available at the touch of a button, so anyone interested in immigrating could find out pertinent information before making the plunge. However, this might be an interesting question to expand to the global immigration issue, as people fleeing their countries as refugees may not have such luxuries and may actually be more like Joseph Donelly from the movie.
ReplyDeleteAs for the second question, I don't really know how to respond, as it almost seems counterintuitive for immigrants to turn around and migrate to Ireland after having migrated to America. However, I would really need to further explore this issue, as I don't really know the details of Ireland's immigration policy at the time, etc. I can say that it would definitely be different than migrating to America, as there were different governments and market systems in place in Ireland than in America at the time.
I know that it would be a lot different to immigrate here today. I think we are a lot more open to inviting people into America and would not have to be told "no" when asking for food or water. Obviously it would be the same in the sense that you would need to find a job and work to make a living and provide for your family, but overall I believe it would be a lot easier to immigrate here today, and not so much when Joseph and Shannon did- obviously!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matthew and Laura. This world is so connected, if I were to immigrate to America now it would be much easier because you can find every thing you need on line. Every thing would be set up for you when you get there, house and a job. It would be easier to immigrate there today because I don't think people would be as discrimitory. Some people might give you a hard time but I don't think they would be as hurtful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone else has said but I also feel that Ireland is no longer a poor country so having more financial stability would also help. People from Ireland also speak English which would make immigrating much easier for them compared to people from non-English speaking countries. For the second question I feel going to Ireland would have been harder. That country was very poor at the time due to the Potato famine and finding work would have been very challenging. Life was hard for Shannon and Joseph but I feel it would have been more difficult to go the other way.
ReplyDeleteI think in most ways it would be easier to immigrate today like everyone is saying. But in some ways I think it would be harder. The immigration process today is a longer drawn out process filled with paper work and way more red tape than there was back in the 1800’s. Also there are no races for free land in today’s society so owning land would be harder for immigrants.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine what it would be like to immigrate. I do not know much about immigration but from the movie it looked very chaotic. Even though many things have changed in the immigration process I'm sure it is still a chaotic task. I think going from America to Ireland would be much less strict and chaotic then coming to America because America is so different then other countries in how they do things.
ReplyDeleteI think that immigrating to Ireland from America today would be very different than it was when Shannon and Joseph immigrated. They came to America thinking that it would be full of great opportunities only to find that it was a difficult place to start out. Today, if someone were to immigrate to America, they would still find themselves faced with obstacles however I think that they would not be to the extent that Shannon and Joseph faced in the 1800's.
ReplyDeleteImmigrating to Ireland from America would be very different. Today, America is very connected to other countries so a person immigrating would not be faced with many problems. The person could get a plan ticket in American and secure a place to live before going to Ireland. I think that the only possible problem that a person might face is having money. I am not sure if Ireland uses a similar system as we do or if one would need to convert. If converting, sometimes one ends up losing money because the systems are so different.
I think things would be very different for anyone who migrated from Ireland to America today rather than in the late 1890s. I think so because success in the US is largely based on one's education level. In the movie, however, a lack of education is not displayed as a significant struggle for anybody, especially Joseph. So I think that a migrant today would need to understand that education is essential in our society today.
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