The Land of Opportunity and Other Fictions

For many of the Eastern European immigrants to the Anthracite region of Pennsylvania during the time when "Coal was King," America was not the land of opportunity in the sense that they had gained something; rather, they got the opportunity to lose something, whether it was life itself or their religious faith. Many died because of the coal mines; the central character in the story "This White Thing," struggles to pass on Old World traditions to her children, only to realize that it is futile; World War I offered the opportunity to fight against family members still living over in Europe; many of the immigrants escaped the 1918 Flu Epidemic in the Old World, only to contract it here in the New World. Although the readers may not be of Slavic origin, whether they be Irish, Cuban, or Israeli, they will be able to identify with the themes and characters that are embodied in these stories.