"The New Colossus": A Poem of Strength, Hope, and Freedom for Immigrants - Paper Sample

Introduction

“The New Colossus” is a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus, a Jewish-American poet, and a social activist. It was written in the year 1883 to assist the fundraising for the establishment of the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. The poem paints a contradiction between the Statue of Liberty to the traditional Greek Colossus of Rhodes, awarding the “new colossus” as a feminine supporter of immigrants more than an emblem of military strength. At the time of this writing of "The New Colossus" poem by Emma Lazarus, European immigrants such as the Greeks, Italians, and the Russian-Jewish exiles were en masses entering America, arousing aggressive debates and perennial aggression among the Native Americans. During this intense climate, Emma Lazarus, an immigrant activist, and writer commenced volunteering and helping the struggling refugees from Czarist Russian. The statue’s obligation and the unironic and hopeful tone in the poem “The New Colossus” provides a visionary dream of American’s duty as protector and hope for immigrants entering America. However, the main question is whether America lived up to the promise offered in the poem, especially to the immigrants in search of political and religious liberty, and economic opportunities.

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The Meaning of the Poem

The poem, “The New Colossus” paints a contradiction between the Statue of Liberty to the ancestral Greek Colossus of Rhodes. The ancient statue of the Colossus of Rhodes served mainly as a symbol of military might and as a warning to the potential rivals approaching the United States (Marom). However, the new statue's identity, torch, and its stance on the far eastern shore of the country indicate its obligation as the protector and hope provider for refugees. The statue signifies the extended duty that the United States has on both the refugees who were among the founding fathers and those who hoped to find new homes and freedom in America. Statue's vocal as imagined by the poet directly converses to the earliest empires of Europe and demands it's neglected ones as her own. Every feature presented in the poem advances its presentation of the new statue of liberty as a sign of acceptance and to the poem's comprehensive key message of welcoming foreigners gladly (Zaru).

The poem's illustration of the two statues' associations to the land provides contradicting relations approaches to one's motherland and the immigrants. Firstly, the Colossus of Rhodes or the "brazen giant" was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The "brazen giant" was established to celebrate military triumph and to show military might of America, and its "conquering limbs" were presumed to have bestridden a harbor (Lazarus). At this time, all the foreign ships needed to move under the bronze legs or the "brazen," this was meant to regard the death of all the conquered warriors from whose deserted weapons were used to construct the statue (Lazarus). The ancient statue’s threatening stance was as a symbol of warning to potential invaders and seafarers. However, the New Colossus was firmly set up at the "sea-washed, sunset gates” of the United States of America (Zaru). The lyrical image describing the United States of America’s Eastern shore overlooking Europe beyond the Atlantic Ocean signifies a sense of fairness and acceptance to foreigners. Additionally, the New Colossus was a symbol of not war and defeat but enlightenment, freedom, and compassion (Lazarus).

The sense of acceptance in the poem is vivid and established in lines 4-8. In these lines, the statue is referred to as the “Mother of Exiles” and the touch in her hand is a representation of beacon (Lazarus). The flashlight was included in the Statue of Liberty by French sculptor as a sign of liberty and reason that illuminate the whole world. In the poem, the inclusion of glowing touch symbolizes the same purpose of the lighthouse of navigating all the seafarers safely. The "beacon" symbolized a complete and global welcoming of refugees coming to New York.

As a patron of arriving refugees, the statue’s symbolic obligations are confirmed in the sonnet’s sestet as it engages the contemporary world’s defender directly with the “ancient lands” where they migrated. The statue renounces “storied pomp” used to establish and maintain European empires such as ancient Greece (Lazarus). The Colossus of Rhodes was mainly constructed from the dumped bronze artillery of conquered soldiers of Cyprus (Lazarus). Therefore, it was a domineering showoff of military strength highlighting diverse triumphs accounts but concealing the tribulations of the vanquished individuals. As per the poem, "The New Colossus" orders the ancient lands to deliver to her their marginalized citizens, referred to as the “huddled masses"(Lazarus). It promises freedom and home to the “homeless” and those who desire to “breath free.” Moreover, the statue’s illuminant is described again in the last line of the sonnet as a “lamp” that lights up the “golden door” of the opportunities found in America (Lazarus).

The golden promises assured by the Statue of Liberty provides alluring substitutes to all the representations of the ancient Colossus of Rhodes (Zaru). Therefore, promises of the maternal statue of comprehensive hospitality to the immigrants were meant to become the very nature of the United States of America. Simply put, the Statue of Liberty is represented in the poem as parts of America and as an emblematic of its core values. Hence, America receives the honor of its readiness to accept and welcome immigrants from different countries and offer them with political and religious liberty and economic opportunities (Marom).

Immigrants have faced diverse challenges in America over the years. Some of their experiences defy the promises offered in the poem like hospitality, economic, political, religious liberty, and other golden opportunities. However, America has also made some strides in establishing different policies geared towards ensuring that refugees’ welfare is maintained and protected as per the promises of the poem.

How America Lived up To the Poem’s Promise

The United States has been for a long time in the forefront in accepting and resettling immigrants fleeing persecution and violence in their motherland in search of freedom and other opportunities. Large numbers of refugees have been accepted in America from Europe, Asia, and from some African countries. The government of the United States has contributed much to define the formulation of laws and policies geared towards refugees’ protection under international humanitarian law (Garcia). For effective acceptance and resettlement of displaced people into their country, the government of the United States enacted refugee legislations in the year 1948 to enable refugees to enter America and to be protected. It was a reflection of America’s tradition and core value to offer freedom and safer home for the displaced and oppressed (Felter and McBride).

Enacted refugee legislation provided room for administering an additional number of refugees displaced as a result of war and persecution. The Federal Refugee Act of 1980 offered standardized resettlement services for all the admitted refugees in the United States of America (Garcia). Once they were screened and admitted to America, they were legally allowed to work as they received employment authorization. Additionally, the United State's legislation allowed them to apply for green cards that enabled them to become permanent residents. They were also eligible after five years to apply for citizenship in the United States of America. The Federal Refugee Act also enabled the United States' public health service to screen, provide health services, treatment to immigrants, eligible for public health insurance coverage (Garcia).

How America Has Failed to Live up To the Poem’s Promise

There has been a gradual fluctuation in the number of refugees entering America since the inception of the program in the year 1980. Over the years, discrimination of immigrants has been penetrating parts of America, and it has also been evident throughout American history. Such kind of discrimination was apparent even before “The New Colossus” when the American government enacted the Chinese Exclusion Act barring Chinese ethnic group, the non-laborers from entering the state (Zaru). Additionally, in the year 1924, anti-immigrant policies such as the National Origin Act were passed, capping the number of displaced persons from entering America ("An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy").

Due to the rise of global displacement, the United States has continued to enact stringent immigrant resettlement processes and measures. Anti-immigrant advocates in the early 20th century have been accelerating provoking fear and discomfort among the immigrants in America. For instance, under the Donald Trump administration, refugees’ admission to the United States of America has drastically declined (Felter, and McBride). There have been numerous executive orders that have been signed by the contemporary sitting president, Donald Trump suspending and barring admissions of immigrants from different states such as Sudan in Africa, those from Asia, and others from the Islamic States (Felter and McBride). Additionally, the number of immigrants’ admission has been drastically lowered from 110,000 to 30,000 in year 2019 ("An Overview of United States Refugee Law and Policy"). Harsh immigration enforcement system barked by enacted policies, discrimination against the immigrants, racism faced by the displaced persons, and verbal condemnations against the refugees from different states has been evident within Trump’s administration (Somin). As a result, the present-day treatment of immigrants in America does not reflect the promise in “The New Colossus,” a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus, indicating the core value that America ought to have.

Conclusion

The poem "The New Colossus," written by Emma Lazarus, was used to compare the Statue of Liberty to the ancient Greek Colossus of Rhodes. It was used as a symbol to showcase the core values and principles of America as the provider and protector to the oppressed migrants. However, despite the government's effort and support to protect immigrants over the years and to realize their core values as a state, there have been drastic changes in policies that limit the admission of refugees. Additionally, increased discrimination, verbal attacks, and racism against immigrants over the years have failed America to uphold the promises offered by the poem.

Work Cited

Lazarus, Emma. "The New Colossus By Emma Lazarus | Poetry Foundation". Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus.

"An Overview Of U.S. Refugee Law And Policy". American Immigration Council, 2020, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/overview-us-refugee-law-and-policy.

Felter, Claire, and James McBride. "How Does The U.S. Refugee System Work?". Council On Foreign Relations, 2020, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-does-us-refugee-system-work.

Garcia, Alexis. "The Commitment Of The United States To International Refugee Law". Ameriquest's, vol 12, no. 2, 2017, p. 275. Vanderbilt University Library, doi:10.15695/amqst.v12i2.4335.

Marom, Daniel. "Who Is The &Quot; Mother Of Exiles&Quot;? An Inquiry Into Jewish Aspects Of Emma Lazarus's &Quot; The New Colossus&Quot;". Prooftexts, vol 20, no. 3, 2000, pp. 231-261. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/ptx.2000.0020.

Somin, Ilya. "Immigration Law Defies The American Constitution". The Atlantic, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/us-immigration-laws-unconstitutional-double-standards/599140/.

Zaru, Deena. "The Story Behind 'The New Colossus' Poem On The Statue Of Liberty And How It Became A Symbol Of Immigration".