Subdivisions By Rush Literary Devices

During the 19th century, thousands of immigrants came to the United States to escape their struggling native governments and live with the opportunities America provides. Although the immigrants came to America to escape the turmoil of their countries, they found similar turmoil in America as Americans prejudiced these men and women because they felt they were inferior culturally and socially. Americans thought the immigrants were unfit to live in American society. "Subdivisions" by Rush, uses literary devices, such as diction and tone, to illustrate the unfair treatment of these 19th century immigrants. They were forced to live in unskilled and low quality jobs, live in slums and poverty, and were out casted in the United States. Rush feels

“Subdivisions” also portrays this through the line, “Some will sell their dreams for small desires” (Stanza 5 Line 2). Immigrants in the 1800s would settle for the lowest of lows to live the American dream. Immigrant men would work in unskilled jobs, in the factories, for many hard, grueling, and painful hours receiving barely enough money to support themselves. The working conditions in which they labored were extremely sketchy; they could easily lose limbs if they weren’t careful. For most immigrant men their children and wives also had to work alongside them in the same factories suffering the same conditions. Women settled for prostitution because it was the best way to earn the most money to help support their families. Immigrants did this all to live in the United States and hopefully live a better life than they did in their old countries. They suffer the worst treatment for the economic opportunity most of America takes for granted. These men, women, and even children chose to live through these dreadful conditions all in the hopes that their children might experience freedoms and live a happy and prosperous life in