Assimilation:Doctorow – Leviza M

Leviza Murtazayeva

Prof.Scanlan – ENG 1121

Journal 6- Assimilation (short story)

     I chose a story named Assimilation by Doctorow as my favorite story out of all because of its interesting plot. The short story began by introducing a loud and crowded area in a  restaurant that is owned by a character of a story, Borislav.  As well as introducing us to the main character who is named Ramon.  Ramon was working as a dishwasher before he was “upgraded” to a busboy, which made him feel a lot more important as a person. The owner and his friends are seemed to be Slavic with the given explanations and the names of owners. Soon, later, Borislav began to ask for Ramons; documentations, and offering him to flee to Europe and marry his relative so that she can become a legal resident in the United States. Her name was Jelena, and she was about to be Ramon’s wife. The setting of the story alternates between Europe and America, the restaurant, and the houses they live in. The mood or the tone of the main character changed when he begins to ” wrap Borislav” around his finger to make income out the life-risking or lawbreaking favor.

               The plot is set the way that we read the story from a third-person view, it seems as if the author is telling us the story and he is the narrator. The historical theme of this short story is that there were and still many situations like his that occur, where people pretend to love someone and marry them for legal residency, and after that, they divorce. One of the people in the involvement gets a profit out of this. Even though the main character was aimed to pretend to love the woman, after finding out about Jelena, Roman began to fall in love, and it was a real feeling at that time and for sure. The story includes a title as a symbol of getting adjected to something new, especially when you move to a new country, get promoted, or be in charge of something very risky such as law. The reader’s sympathies are manipulated by the way the author described the characters, sometimes the reader will have a growing connection towards Ramon’s actions and sometimes the other characters in the story, by maneuvering the tone and situations or mood of the character. This way the reader may express more sympathy or grow an emotional connection to those characters such as Jelena and Ramon who are struggling thought out.