The various waves of immigration from the USSR resulted in many families to have to leave their lives behind and move to a new land. In many cases these families have children old enough to have memories of their lives in the USSR but not old enough to really understand why they must leave. Vladamir Nabokov and Anya Ulinich both moved away from their homes as teenagers, a decision which was made by their parents. I intend to demonstrate how “The Wood Sprite” ,by Vladamir Nabokov, and “Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel” , by Anya Ulinich, show the emotional strain that immigrating away from the USSR had on them, and how it was intensified because of the ages at which they left. “The Wood Sprite” is a story of a man who begins to imagine fantastical …show more content…
Lena is happy with him and nostalgic about the time they spent together before she moved and it’s implied that they miss each other. Towards the end of her stay in Russia, Lena and Alik spend the night together. Before they do, Lena’s conscience appears and talks about the encounter and explains that it should have happened a long time ago. This implies that Lena has always wanted Alik, but leaving russia made this impossible showing, yet again, that by leaving russia at such a young age she was never able to complete her sexual awakening with Alik. This is another reason why her relationships failed because she was always looking for someone she cannot have. Next her conscience points out that Lena will notice Alik’s knuckles and it will remind her of Josh, a man she was once with for a significant period of time (Ulinich 43). It is clear that Alik shows important similarities to at least one man that Lena has been with. This contributes to the idea that she is chasing a man like Alik and that is the reason her relationships have not lasted. Lena’s separation from Russia and more specifically the abrupt end to her relationship with Alik created intense sexual confusion for Lena leading to her relationship problems as an adult. Because of the age she was when she left the USSR, Lena was unable to complete a crucial part of her development causing lasting part in her adult life. This story is about Lena Finkle however it is not too farfetched to say that Anya Ulinich drew from much of her own experiences to create this story. Both Lena and Ulinich are Russian born authors who immigrated to the United States. The fact that Lena’s story is one of immigration and that is something that Anya Ulinich experienced in her own life suggests that there are similarities with Lena’s life and her own. Ulinich clearly had problems with her transition from the USSR to