Umbertina, an Italian American, self-made woman, represents the hardships as well as successes of an immigrant during the time of the Italian diaspora. With Umbertina as the foundation of their family in Italy, the Longobardi’s were a stable family unit, ready to discover all that America had to offer.
The Longobardi family was just one of many who endured hardships along the Via Dolorosa-the first test of their commitment to the chance for new beginnings. Having taken a leap of faith into the unknown of the New World, Umbertina was forced to make the choice between leaving behind her identity and memories in a country which they called “home,” or shaping into the “American lifestyle.” Umbertina and other Italian immigrants were not only challenged mentally and physically by new experiences within the United States, but their past identity and Italian culture were often obstacles to a smooth assimilation in America.
Promptly placed into an unfamiliar setting, Umbertina was forced to put on a mask of confidence to reassure her family of the prosperity that awaited them despite their current conditions. The padrone system, which awaited their arrival, was the first disadvantage the Longobardi’s as well as most Italians faced while in the New World. Put into extreme financial instability due to the padrones was a common trend that led Italian Americans to endure heartache, loss, and sacrifice.
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La Storia describes the unethical practices of the padrone system when stating, “Upon their arrival, the laborers are entirely under the control of the principal, and are subject to many impositions and frauds, and in some instances are kept in almost a state of slavery” (105-106). The padrone system, although believed to be a trustworthy benefactor in a time of need to the Italians, conversely served as the start to a loss of identity for many Italian immigrants.
Heartache was a prominent occurrence within the novel, Umbertina, after the Longobardi’s emigration to the United States. Beginning with their departure from Italy, Barolini states, “She did not look back, but Serafino did and his blue eyes filled with tears, for he knew there was no coming back,” alluding to the despondency Italian immigrants faced when leaving their family and homeland behind (49). After being directed by the padrone, the Longobardi’s were sent to reside in Italian ghettos with harsh conditions. In turn, Umbertina was forced to face the death of two of her young children. The death of family members, a recurring incident within the harsh Italian ghettos, forced many Italian Americans into a feeling of despair and disconnection with their companions and especially themselves.
The second-generation Italian Americans often classified as the most confused in terms of their identity in the New World. From the start of their American schooling, teachers pushed the necessity of assimilating, or “Americanizing” the Italian children in order to ingrain the culture and predominant language of the United States into their young minds. This uncertainty of identity in the second-generation Italian Americans commonly led to confidence struggles as well as psychological disorders.
Mangione and Morreale describe this issue when saying, “Studies dealing with the condition found that Italian Americans were vulnerable to lower self- esteem as they began to interact with the larger culture” (219). Italian American children became conflicted with their cultures as they were surrounded by Italian customs at home and American culture and the English language in the classroom. As Italians were often seen as the inferior ethnicity, harsh and igonomous interactions would often occur in public settings due to American citizens detesting older Italian’s inability to assimilate.
Leonardo Covello describes this feeling in La Storia saying, “We were becoming American by learning to be ashamed of our parents” (105-106). This is seen in Umbertina as her own two sons, Giacomo and Benedetto change their Italian names to the common American names, Jake and Ben. In part two of Umbertina, Marguerite struggled with a lack of Italian identity which she longed for. Feeling a connection to her grandmother, Umbertina, Marguerite felt extreme dissonance with both of her ethnic backgrounds, making her desire a Italian rooted relationship.
This sentiment is expressed as Barolini states, “An unselected candidate for American happiness, a family failure, she sailed for England harboring the certainty that her destination was surely Italy” (159). This lack of identity in the minds of second-generation Italian Americans was in fact a prevalent occurrence after the immigration to the United States.
High criminal activity within Italian ghettos was another factor that resulted in the loss of identity for Italian Americans post emigration to America. After falling into immense poverty in the New World, many Italian immigrants looked to crime to claim wealth in a society surrounded by destitution. La Storia comments on the criminal activity among the Italian ghettos when stating, “Virtually forgotten by the Italian government, which was pleased with the financial and political advantages derived from its policy of exporting labor, and scorned by the aristocrats in the diplomatic service, the immigrants found themselves at the mercy of the criminal” (165-166).
As many Italians lost their sense of conscience, their identity would follow behind. Throughout the 19th century, illegal activities were consistently blamed on the Sicilians. As Americans became indignant with the declination of available jobs due to the influx of immigrants, Sicilians as a whole were often labeled as murderers. This widespread defacement of the Sicilian’s character is also seen in Umbertina stating, “Domenico would report, ‘calling us undesirables and demanding that immigration from Italy be stopped. They say that we all carry weapons, that we’re all part of the Mafia, as if we had anything to do with the Sicilians”” and again in a thought by Umbertina saying,
“The Italians were pouring in, more and more each year, and they were taking the jobs away from the Americans. But was this a cause to hate and kill them? After all, the Italians were doing the jobs that all the others scorned and refused. And wasn’t there supposed to be a reward for hard work and making good in the American way? Wasn’t that what America was all about” (98)?
After entering into America, Umbertina remained focused on the success of her family while simultaneously losing parts of her Italian identity and ability to sympathize with her fellow Italians, such as the Sicilians. Her memories and adoration for her homeland began to fade along with her attachment to her Italian culture.
Along with her hardships, Umbertina’s successes also led her to gradually part from her Italian identity. The grocery store, S. Longobardi & Son, proved to be not only Umbertina’s greatest success while in America, but it also served as a key turning point for her separation from her Italian culture. The love and unity of one’s family-which in the Italian culture is a beloved hallmark-becomes insubstantial to Umbertina as she focuses more of her efforts to familial success opposed to facing the ups and downs of the “American dream” together. This family dynamic is seen when stating, “It was the correct move in terms of getting on with fortune building in the first immigrant generation; but it also set family values squarely into what they called business sense” (Barolini, 119-120).
The grocery store which Umbertina devotes her new life to is the inspiration for Marguerite’s dream that emphasized the word “grossness.” Marguerite’s own lack of identity is rooted in the phrase, “grossness” from the beginning of the novel which she is later able to translate to “grocery,” symbolic of S. Longobardi & Son. The concept of memory in the novel goes hand-in-hand with a loss of identity in two of the main characters, Umbertina and Marguerite.
A transformation of Umbertina’s character is again seen as she sends pictures of herself prospering in the New World to family members in Italy opposed to sending them a portion of the money she earned. This reiterates the fact that Umbertina lacked in obtaining connections with her family both in America as well as in her homeland. Umbertina significantly altered her priorities throughout the course of the novel, ultimately sacrificing her identity and her loved ones to achieve her longed-for success.
Alongside a successful career, Umbertina’s children also proved to follow in her path to prosperity in America. After assimilating at young ages in parochial school, Umbertina’s offspring assisted as the English speaking liaison for the family business. Later taking on the family business after Serafino’s death and Umbertina’s retirement, the three sons proved to be successful in their personal as well as professional lives. This ultimate success that Umbertina’s children were able to achieve makes her years of struggle worth all the while in her mind.
The Longobardi’s established reputation in Cato is representative of Umbertina’s hardwork in the New World. In order to admire her success-otherwise known as her children-and to recount memories of her time in America, Umbertina’s most beloved event was an annual picnic at a meadow on the shores of Lake Petulia with her children and grandchildren. Umbertina’s connection to the picnics served as another example of the role of memory in the novel. This is seen in Umbertina stating,
“… Umbertina had spoken her wish: that they should come back each summer when travel was easier and meet in a meadow large enough for them and all the cars, to have a picnic. In her old age, it was the event that pleased her most, more than Christmas or Easter or any of the saints’ days. She lived with the memory of it through the long winters” (142).
Throughout the conclusion of part one of Umbertina, the main character, Umbertina, recounts her time spent in her homeland as she looked at her wedding bedspread. This bedspread, symbolic of her past and representative of her early hardships reminds Umbertina of her loyalty to her homeland, Castagna. In her final moment, as Umbertina whispers, “Castagna,” this shows that Umbertina was able to reconnect with her lost Italian identity.
Umbertina, the Italian American, strong-willed, and hardworking immigrant, chose the life of a sacrificial lamb in order to give her family a chance at the “American dream.” The opportunities in America served as distractions from her deep-rooted culture however, her beloved memories of her time in Italy are what brought her back to her innate culture. Umbertina’s character went through significant changes over the years in the New World; she failed as well as succeeded, she made connections with companions and lost many, however ultimately, she was able to overcome a loss of identity to return to her Italian heritage.
Works Cited
- Barolini, Helen, and Edvige Giunta. Umbertina: a Novel. Feminist Press, 1999.
- Mangione, Jerre, and Ben Morreale. La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience. HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
