Under the ribs of death - John Marilyn

Thèmes abordés

Under the ribs of death, John Marilyn, immigrants, Great Depression, post World War One, working-class, unskilled workers, social inequalities, immigrant dream, book review

Résumé du document

Under the ribs of death is a novel written by John Marilyn that takes place in Winnipeg during the interwar period. It is the story of Sandor Hunyadi, a young boy from a Hungarian working-class family, who dreams of becoming rich and integrated in the Canadian society.

The book shows Sandor's and his family's day to day life, and all the issues they have to face as immigrants. It focuses on Sandor's effort to become a rich Canadian and the conflict between his immigrant dream and the social reality.

Part one is about Sandor's childhood, his goals and the social humiliation and difficulties he encounters as an immigrant.

Part two is about the beginning of his adulthood, his attempt to become wealthy, his marriage, and the impact of the Great Depression on his life. This book is very interesting from an historical point of view, because we can understand better the social, cultural and religious context of this post World War One period. The novel helps to figure out the living condition of workers.

Extraits

[...] ( ) As soon as he's old enough he'll start working in the office. Just little after-school jobs at first, so he won't get tired.” (p.267) C. The assimilation issue Assimilation was a big issue. A part of the immigrant community aspires to be part of the nation. Sandor is one of them, he hardly wants to be integrated in the Canadian society. He does not understand people who keep their foreign habits: “They were all foreigners, ( ) and they were actually proud of their foreign, outlandish ways. [...]

[...] He focused on English to be integrated, and even won the first prize for his essay on Victoria Day. He is discriminated because of his name, and planes to change it to an English name. In effect, there was a distinction inside of the immigrant population: English were seen as almost Canadian, they were not treated as strangers. Sandor explains that “the only people who count are the English. Their fathers got all the best jobs. They're the only ones nobody ever calls foreigners. [...]

[...] Their diet is based on potato (“noodles and potatoes. Two times already this week we've had noodles and potatoes.” p.123), and he suffers from hunger and malnutrition. In this period, a lot of adults had issues with alcohol, as it was a way to escape reality after a long day of work, and a way to socialize with other workers. The book exemplifies this reality in the character Onkel Janos, who Sandor escorts from the bar to his house at night, because he is too drunk to go home alone. [...]

[...] The immigrant dream and issues A. Winnipeg, a city of immigration Sandor and his family live in Winnipeg, where there is a big immigrant population, mostly composed of English, Hungarians, Austrians and Germans. We learn in the book that there is one Hungarian for twenty Austrians or Germans. Most of them speak their own language at home, and English and German in business. The immigrant population is so numerous in Winnipeg, and in Canada in general, that the father of Sandor says: “It is meaningless to call anyone a foreigner in this country. [...]

[...] Sandor for example aspires to be “rich and well-fed” (p.2). He wants to wear nice clothes and eat enough so that “nobody will laugh at him again, not even the English, because by then he would have changed his name and would be working in an office the way English did, and nobody would be able to tell that he had ever been a foreigner.” (p.2) His model is Mr. Nagy, the only Hungarian he knew who was an office man: “when he grew up he was going to be like Mr. [...]