Reading Log

Reading Log for The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen

I really appreciate the manner Shadrach Cohen chose to be Americanized. He was angry, of course, to hear his sons' disrespect comments on his cherished old habits. But as a sagacious old man, he didn't tackle the wall between two generations abruptly. In fact, he demonstrated his admirable side to his two unfledged sons and won their flavor quickly. For example, he became the pride of his sons because he managed to run their store impressively successful. He mixed his old merit of shrewdness with the charm of American life. By doing thing in this way, Cohen finally made his sons accept him willfully and the ices between father and sons were broken.

The old man has flexibility; but more importantly, he has tenacity. He insisted upon a strict observation of every tenet of their religion. He had carried many tenets from Russia, and he changed or even discarded a lot of them to "catch up with" his sons. But he never gave away the tenets of his Jewish religion. This is where I think he is most intelligent. He knew that he would spoil the father-son relation if he wouldn't become Americanized. Nevertheless, he taught his sons an important lesson: one can't loose his faith or cultural root. It wasn't only by some small knacks that he managed to make his sons to become "Jewishnized" religiously. Cohen used flexibility to let his two sons accept him, and then, wielded tenacity to influence them step-by-step, reminding them of their religious and cultural roots.

30.5.07 09:41

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