Preyed Upon

Many people struggle when in a new environment. Such as Ruty, who immigrated from Haiti to America. Knowing only Haitian Creole and French at first, Ruty started learning English at school, through a computer, occasionally learning phrases from family members but his main source was through school and his friends. With learning the standard English taught in schools, he adapted to also learning Black English from his family that resided in America, but he had been bullied by them because he couldn’t speak English that well. 

In this narrative, Ruty used imagery a lot to describe what was happening around him and what he was experiencing. Such as the image of a young kid sitting alone at a computer in a classroom full of kids, trying to learn English, and  a young kid frantically rushing to school at 10:30 am because he was late. Imagery is also seen when he was swarmed in the classroom as he was the new kid, and felt like “an alien landing on earth, or as popular as a celebrity stopped by paparazzi”, because he couldn’t comprehend and understand what was going on. This showed how the new environment, such as a classroom, makes one feel stiff and reserved because it’s uncomfortable to be in an environment you’re not familiar with. But this was also an example of simile, how he compared to feeling like an outsider, as someone who was in an entirely new environment. 

Pathos was also shown when describing that “being a first generation immigrant I can confirm we often find ourselves in place of no belonging”. Many can feel this deep in their hearts as they may have had to get accustomed to an entirely new environment, language and system just like Ruty did. Many can relate to this feeling because first generation immigrants that are at a young age have to relearn everything, from language, to social behavior and customs. It’s a difficult, frustrating feeling that can be felt from many. He also used this in the very beginning when he said, “sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in”. This is very personal and many may also feel this way, who’ve also struggled in displaying how they felt, because if they do, no one will understand. 

Ethos is seen when Ruty mentions through his experience of being an immigrant where “being a first generation immigrant I can confirm we often find ourselves in a place of no belonging. On one side we see Americans who don’t relate to us because we weren’t born here and on the other end remains our traditional culture which becomes more and more stripped from us as we try to adapt to American customs. Because of this there is a lack of belonging, dissatisfaction in an isolated social group, unable to connect with others making us very disparate”. This is seen as ethos because Ruty is explaining, through his own experience, how the social environment is distant and separates themselves from him because they’re unfamiliar with his culture. It shows the situations that people can go through when they immigrate, and how it’s even harder to handle this when they also don’t know the language. 

Learning any language to be able to fit into a society is difficult. Especially at a young age. But Ruty was able to persevere through that, learning English to avoid having conversations that he couldn’t understand, to learning Black English from his family members that would make fun of him for not knowing English that well “as he be getting ice cream for them”. From knowing only two languages from his hometown to now knowing three, it’s the determination to continue in an ever changing environment that Ruty was able to learn English and adapt to his new life in America. Through all this experience, Ruty wrote his narrative, and gave us the story of the growth of a young nervous boy who immigrated from Haiti to America. Throughout this story, you could feel and see the frightened boy in a new classroom, the awkward feeling in a new house, in a new environment, surrounded by people who don’t speak the same language as you. Ruty showed fear, awkwardness and nervousness for the young boy who is just starting his new life.