The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1921-03-16
Jewish Types in Anne
rican Fiction
VOICES OF TRUTH ARE NOW BE-
ING HEARD.

tho they have not as yet passed out
entirely from American Jewish fic.
ton, their popularity is waning and
they are being gradually supplanted by
works of fiction belonging TO n differ
ent class, such as Heart and Soul.
which, after IA temporary eclipse. has
come into its own. We may not per-
haps count among these writer's any
OF the first magnitude, hut in so far
as intent and purpose, genuine feeling
and sentiment. are concerned they
are a most desirable phenomenon in
American letters.
The writers of this period. which be-
gan about fifteen years ago. have made
il their problem to tell of the life of
the expanded Ghetto, of the immi-
grant Jew who has already gained a
foothold in the new country and who
rs likely rs not will die on American
soil. As n rule. therefore. these new
to overcome. Their predecessors OF
about three decades ago faced the
problem of the transition from Euro
pean conditions to those of the East
Side. The types of the period under
discussion have still another prob.
lem before them. and that is the
transition from the Ghetto to general
American life.
Mary Antin's THE Promised Land
is not, strictly speaking. work OF
lott hni tnl, Inv In
her book Miss Antin tells of her life
in Russia, of her having come to Amer
lea with her parents. of the hard strug-
gle they had before becoming ac-
climated to the new conditions. and Of
the authors final triumph in the
Land of Opportunity or. as she terms
1t, the Promised Land. The most in
ierestinS part Of the book is that i'm
which the author tells of the Jews un-
quenchable thirst for learning which
ard of American born children. but. In
overtaking and reaching heights un-
dreauefl Of hF them. 'srhc Prorlsed
Land" is vivid and talented por-
trayal of this trait of the Jewish
character. and its only fault Is the
somewhat cringing. not to say servile,
attitude towards America which. with
all her sincerity, makes the authors
admiration seem somewhat adulatory.
Another story of similar meta
morphosis is "witte Arrives" by Elias
Tobenliin. Here. again, we find fam
lily. the women and girls wearing
shnwls on their heads. the boys in
rags and fareboot, arriving to their
father in America, and again. after a
few years elapse. the older boy, Emil
becomes journalist, marries loses
his wife who dies because of their
poverty. but finally arrives" in the
world and becomes Amer
icanized to such an extent that he
Gentle woman with whom
he, Emil Witte- originally Witt
he has very much in
common. The story is well told. altho
in places it savOrs more of journalistic
effort than that of fiction. but it holds
one's interest and gives good in
sight into journalistic life in this
country. Tobenkin also demonstrates
that his hero becomes more Of an
American than the native American.
''Witte had become peculiarly Amer
lean. He had drunk deep not only of
American ideals, but of American cul
ture and American traditions. His ar
ticles and editorials in the Age at
tracted attention particularly by their
flavor, The cultural back
ground of Whites writing was that of
readers of the unsigned editorials on
American life and problems and ideals
would have suspected that they were
written by any one not of American
lirth. Many. indeed, would have plac-
ed the writer of such articles as none
other than a scion of one of the Oldest
American families"
Still another tale of AmericaniZa-
tion is Americans in the Making by
NJ. F.. Ravage. in which the story of
a young immigrant from Roumania is
told He first lands on the East-Side.
hut after n while enters Western
college where he is snubbed by his
GENTLE fellow-students. Later, how
ever. he discovers that it is his Pc
culiar Jewish mannerisms and habits
that are rcpulsive to his fellow
students, and, having reformed"
they become quite chummy and friend
ly with him. Whether in this external