Essay Draft Three

June 22, 2007
Alice Zhang
Draft 3
Who was really Americanized, Shadrach Cohen or his sons?

In the latter part of the 19th century, in order to escape religious persecution, many Jewish immigrants fled their countries, most of whom came to America. With little money, the majority of the new settlers struggled to survive. While in “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen”, Bruno Lessing tells us a story of a pretty different Jewish family in New York.

Shadrach Cohen, the main character created, is a charming one, who seemed low key on appearance but succeeded in the business realm after immigrated to America to support his two sons. Shadrach accomplished his Americanization without giving up his own culture dignity. At the same time he gained the respect of his two sons by eliminating the conflicts between the two generations.

Both of the generations experienced their process of change, yet totally different. We may come up with the question, who was really Americanized, Shadrach Cohen or his sons?  Through the whole story, we can see that Shadrach’s Americanization is quite successful, while what happened to his two sons can’t be defined as Americanization.


The author gave us the whole image description of Shadrach both in the beginning and the end. It was a typical picture of a Jew: long straggly grey beard, curled hair falling over the ears and long gabardine of the Russian Ghettos. His appearance told everything about his habits and tenets----- plain, natural and simple.
On the contrary, two sons’ parody of the American culture seems ridiculous. When Shadrach arrived, he was met by “two dapper-looking young men”, (p46) each of whom wore a flaring-style dress and their neckties had a diamond in it. The author described the two sons in an ironic tone to show the scorn. Maybe the toilette was pretty in style at that time in America, but without the “flamboyant crust” what else did they have in their mind? Null. “Abel and Gottlieb were proud of the fact that they had become Americanized.” (p46)In fact, they quite enjoyed their so called “Americanization”.
There is no such culture that is superior to others in origin. As a matter of fact, we can surely find some pros and cons in any specific culture. To learn from other culture doesn’t mean to entirely deny every respect of one’s own culture. A successful combination of different cultures is to absorb the merits of both sides. Shadrach proved it.

At first, Shadrach resisted being “tamed” Americanized. He loved his own Jewish culture and religion. He kept his Jewish habit and act on it. He donned his praying cap and started to recite the grace after meals. “It is wrong to omit the prayer after meals. It is part of your religion.” (p47)He said these words to his sons when he finished his prayer. These noble words from his deep heart served as the declaration of his godliness towards Jewish religion. It was not only formalism. What he clung to is the cream of the Jewish religion, such as “the value of discipline, the beauty of filial reverence, the severe joy of the earnest life”. (p50) Even immigrating to America, he still maintained and cherished his tenets with tenacity, which I believe is one of his primary factors responsible for his success in the process of Americanization.

On the other hand, his two sons totally neglect their own culture. They had done away with the habit of doing prayer. “It’s not quite American!” (p47)Their criterion of judging the value of something is whether it appealed to be American!! What a shame! The two brothers didn’t realize the soul of Jewish religion at all. They not only omitted the prayer after meals but also showed no respect to their father and the maid, Marta. They kept trying to persuade their father to have a thorough change regardless of their father’s feeling. When they picked up their father and found his long-companied maid, their first reaction was to fire her without hesitation. Obviously it was a kind of discrimination. How can they be so cruel to the old lady? So it is nature for Shadrach to feel changes occurred on his sons and between them was a wall. All could be imputed to his sons’ “Americanized”.

Anyone who wants to adapt to a new environment has to learn some local tradition and culture. Shadrach was no exception. What to learn is the key to determine whether he would be successfully accepted or not. Contact with the American society had soon impressed Shadrach. What had Shadrach learn from the American business men? The answer can be concluded as “broader-minded, more tolerant, more flexible in his tenet…the faculty of adaptability”. (p50)What he chose to learn is just “the charm of American life, of liberty, of democracy”. (p50) For a mid-aged man, it was hard to adapt to a new environment and accept new conceptions. However, Shadrach was the infrequent exception because he was one of those outstanding people who have profound mind and acute insight. In this sense, he was quite progressive and open-minded. It was the perfect blend of the American style and Jewish religion that contributed to his process of Americanization.

Despite the change, he held his tenets and was still himself. Being in such a complicated transformation process, it is easy to lose oneself. Fortunately, Shadrach didn’t. He can adapt to a new style of treating people or some aspects of his character. What the Americanization can’t change is his Jewish heart. “And yet it was the same Shadrach Cohen.” (p50)The Jewish religion was rooted in him, which will never be replaced.

Whereas, the sons’ words give us a more clear understanding of their opinion towards Americanization. Two sons were the vivid examples who judge the book by its cover. In their eyes, their father, with long beard and gabardine, was too old- fashioned. “Come father, let’s go to a barber, who will trim your beard and make you look more like an American.” (p46)They urged Shadrach to trim beard twice more. I don’t think it was repeated or redundant for the author to write it twice. It is clear the author wanted to emphasize on this point that the sons regarded American style as something only relating to appearance.

“If becoming Americanized means becoming stupid, I must congratulate you upon the thoroughness of your work.”(p49) Shadrach’s comments above best summarized it. Actually, the “stupid” sons adapted to an American hairstyle, dressing fashion and the way they talk. They gradually left out the Jewish prayer afraid of the tease by others and picked up something with an “America” tag which is meaningless. They even haven’t realized the true meaning of Americanization: something about the value of life and society.

From the contrast of the different attitudes his sons treat Shadrach, we can also witness his fruitful Americanization. At the beginning, the two sons showed no respect to their father. To some extent, they even didn’t play their roles as filial and dutiful sons well. “His sons clinched their fists behind their backs and smiled at him amiably.” (p46)They can’t agree with their father and even came up with the idea of using violence towards him. However, they have to conceive the anger since they didn’t dare to risk their father’s displeasure in case their financial support went away. This is typical American style violence abuse. They kept asking for money and once pocketed the money, “they would shake their heads and sign.” (p47) It was a pity that the only bond between the father and his sons is blood. Or maybe “money” served better. In sons’ eyes, their father was just an instrument like ATM machine. What’s more, they wanted to “modify” their father by “Americanizing” him. They not only themselves forget about the Jewish religion, they even didn’t consider about their father’s choice on religion tenets. Later on, with no change happened on Shadrach after long trying, two sons felt dismay. All these can be blamed as the effect of the materialism which is featured mainly in American civilization.

After tasting the flavor of hard work and the success of the business, two sons changed gradually and unconsciously. They gradually started to look on their father with increasing respect. They even detected “the integrity of his character…the nobility of his heart…the shrewdness of his brain.” The two sons became to take pride in their father from heart. It was a significant contrast compared to their previous behavior. The sons finally get to appreciate their father’s Jewish charming.


It goes without saying that women judge men differently from the way men do. The only woman in the story, Miriam, when first met Shadrach, was quite impressed by his personality charisma. “Impulsively she ran toward him and seized his hands.” (p51) What attracted her was not the American style which she was familiar with but something about Jewish, something unique----a strong man, shrewd, soft and tender, with a kind heart.

It is the difference of the definition of Americanization between the two generations that cause the different outcome. Though neither of them had tried to define it, from their performance, we can get a general idea of it. In the young’s eyes, Americanization is a symbol of stylish appearance and life pattern. While in the father’s perspective, Americanization means a deferential and kind attitude towards people and an indebted and earnest heart towards life. Of course, under no circumstance should one’s own culture be abandoned. From the difference between the two generations we can draw the conclusion that the “worm”----Shadrach turned in a perfect way, while the youth were still naive and had a long way to go on the road towards the true “Americanization”.
Work Cited
“The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” Bruno Lessing
 The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spack. New Yorks: St.Martin’s, 1994. 6-8. 

26.5.07 08:28