A Closer Look at The First Seven Years

One main theme in Bernard Malamud’s The First Seven Years has to do with the achievement of the American Dream. Immigrants come to this country in order to obtain what they call the American Dream. Immigrants try to make a better life for them in America than they had in their home country. This could mean getting a better education, making more money, or even something as simple as being able to raise their children in a safe environment. The main character in this story, named Feld, worked hard to achieve the American Dream. He left Poland to start a new life for himself and his family in America. Even though he could not make much as a shoemaker, his main goal was to allow his daughter to get all the opportunities in life that he never had. Feld wanted to send his daughter Miriam to college but she would protest and tell her father she would rather find a job. “He had begged her to go, pointing out how many fathers could not afford to send their children to college, but she said she wanted to be independent” (Malamud 14). This push for his daughter’s education shows Feld’s desire for his daughter to grow up with the best. Because she had not had to grow up in the conditions he did outside of America, it may be hard for Miriam to understand that he father only wants the best for his daughter because he did not have it in his home country. Feld did not want for his daughter to grow up to be like her mother because he felt that he was unable to provide the best for his wife. When his assistant Sobel admitted his love for Miriam and the desire to marry Miriam, Feld was crushed. “He felt for his daughter a strange and gripping sorrow, as if she were already Sobel’s bride, the wife, after all, of a shoemaker, and had in her life no more than her mother had had” (Malamud 25). Though this may not be the American dream he sees for his daughter, he knows that it will make her happy and will give her a fulfilling life so he allows this to happen. This story showed some of the things that motivate immigrants to come to this country and start a new life for themselves. In their homeland they might not have been able to do all they wished to do with their lives or it might not have been safe for them to do so. In America however, even if they try and do not succeed, most immigrants will be happy with the choice they made because it is possible here. This story shows the better side of immigration that the history books do not express as much. It shows why immigrants come to this country and how they improve their life. It does not show any negative side to people coming in and living in America. The fear that America had of immigration in the past is not present in this story. This story just shows how hard immigrants have to work to get what they want out of life in the long run.