“Our life was tough, we had it hard—but the Nahumovskys had it harder. They were alone, they were older, they were stupefied by the demands of language. Being essentially helpless themselves, my parents found it gratifying to help the more helpless Nahumovskys.”
Mark parallels the troubles that his family goes through with those of the Nahumovskys to accentuate the inescapable challenges that Russian immigrants come upon in their quest to integrate in Canada. Imperfect aptitude in English makes it problematic for the immigrants to acclimatize in the Canadian society. Endeavors to grasp the English language for immigrants in the fifties proves to be a backbreaking adjustment.
“When I inserted the key into the lock I felt emanations of love through the door. And once the door was open, Tapka hurled herself at us, her entire body consumed with an ecstasy of wagging. Jana and I took turns embracing her, petting her, covertly vying for her favor.”
Mark speaks of the lunch breaks when Tapka and Jana would go to Rita’s apartment to play with Tapka. The lunch breaks are noteworthy as they offer Mark and Jana the chance to be close propinquity with Tapka. Evidently, the utility that they derive from playing with Tapka is superior than that that would have resulted from playing their school mates. Otherwise, they would not have spent all the time going back to the apartment as it would have been in vain. Moreover, the phrase “emanations of love” underscores Mark’s high regard for Tapka’s love.
“Getting his license would mean that he could start his own business. At the time, aside from the chocolate bar factory, he also worked at the Italian Community Center, where he massaged mobsters and manufacturers and trained seven amateur weightlifters. The money was lousy, but he was making contacts. He was certain he could take some of the Italians with him if he started his own practice. And if he got his office in just the right location, the old Polish Jews would surely follow.”
Roman Berman appeals to Positive Illusions. The positive illusions give him the inkling that his business will prosper and he will lead a self-sufficient life in Canada even though he is an immigrant. The Positive Illusion of opening his individual business prompts him intrinsically to study a medical course, which is predominantly in English (a language that is alien to him).
“To make me presentable to the rabbi, my mother ironed a pair of pants and put me into a clean golf shirt. My father and I wore yarmulkes and walked hand in hand to the synagogue not far from his office.”
Roman Berman invokes Self-Presentation through the pants and the gold shirt. He is certain that impressing the rabbi through his son which would strengthen odds of getting assistance from the rabbi. The Self-Presentation is material ethos that boosts the narrator and his father’s credibility before the rabbi.
“We walked slowly, in no hurry to reach our destination. Somewhere between Kornblum’s and the Pontiac was our fate. It floated above us like an ether, ambiguous and perceptible.”
Here, the narrator reminiscences the aftereffects of the visit to Kornblum’s. Although the Kornblum’s have guaranteed them of making available contacts that would help in boosting up their business, the Bermans are concerned due to Rhonda’s snub of their apple cake. They cannot make out their fate because it is unfathomable at the moment. The refusal of the cake argues against all the anticipations they had about taking advantage of the doctor’s position to make a step forward in business.
