MELTING POT VS SALAD BOWL : A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN LYNNE SHARON SCHWARTZ’S THE OPIATE OF THE PEOPLE AND TAHIRA NAQVI’S THANK GOD FOR THE JEWS

Abstract

The race and ethnic relations have been long experiencing a long history in American life. A lot of theories have been developed to explain the relations, from assimilation through multiculturalism. Two of them are melting pot and salad bowl theory. The former theory occurs when all components of ethnic group can melt into one culture by erasing their former origins, while in the second theory the ethnic group can well- interact each other but the original cultures still stand in their daily life. The topic has become interesting topic to discuss, one of them is through works of arts. Lynne Sharon Schwartz’s The Opiate of The People is one of examples of meltimg pot theory where the main character tried to fully blend into American life and did not want to implement his Russian original customs anymore. The second story, Tahira Naqvi’s Thank God For The Jews reflects the salad bowl theory, where the characters can blend into American culture but they still kept their original beliefs and cultures. Factors that influences the assimilation process in the stories are immigrant appearance and customs, background of the coming, and time of coming. Keywords : melting pot, salad bowl, assimilation, multiculturalism