The_Question_of_National_Identity_in_William_Saroyan’S_Short_Story_Entitled_“Seventy_Thousand_Assyrians”

The Question of National Identity in William Saroyan’s Short Story Entitled “Seventy Thousand Assyrians” “Seventy Thousand Assyrians” for the first reading is undoubtedly interesting and exciting, however we cannot interpret precisely what the narrator means by “race”, what he really thinks about the “brotherhood of man,” the different peoples of the earth and their languages. It is true that contradiction can be found in the text, but this incident in general does not always lead to misunderstandig in literary works. It can have many functions eg.: irony, sarcasm, or unwillingness to reveal the truth in order to make the reader ponder upon the question that is argued in the plot. In the following, I will try to make an effort to find the reason for the uncertainty about the interpretation and ’message’ of this narrative as far as racial, national and ethnic viewpoints are concerned. As we start to read the short story, in the third sentence we bump into the expression “We barbarians from Asia Minor”. It gives us some information about the narrator’s origin, and only later on, at the end of the first paragraph, do we get to know his current locus: Third Street, San Francisco. Why does he not reveal the place first where the action takes place and then his origin' One can think it is insignificant, or he says this because he wants to explain why he needs a haircut, but certainly he could have started his narrative with the determination of his position. If we read further on we get a description about the place comparred with other American cities, and in the second paragraph he says he is wondering about America. So now we have found out he lives there, and almost at the middle of the short-story at the beginning of the seventh paragraph he lets us know that he is an Armenian. Indeed William Saroyan was born in 1908 in Fresno, California as a son of Armenian immigrant parents. (So in this case the narrator is equal to the author himself, we can consider this text as biographical.) At this point we can jump back to our first question: Was it important for him to put down right at the beginning that he was from Asia Minor' He had an American citizenship, but probably he considered himself first to be an Armenian and just then as an American, this may be the solution for having written that first. In the short-story different nationalities appear beside Armenian. There is a Japanese barber, a boy from Iowa, and Theodore Badal, the Assyrian barber. Strangely, when Saroyan describes the boy of sixteen, who is waiting in the barbershop too, he says: “He looked Iowa, (...( a solid American”. Why does he not say just that he was fair or brown-haired, or pale face, bright eyes etc.' Why does he need to classify his origin' He liked this guy obviously, Iowa, for the first glance, however he did not know him, he could join with him in his sorrow. When Saroyan is watching a man getting a haircut, he describes him as a horrible faced old tramp, unsettled, belonging nowhere. So he seems to classify those people’s origin whom he is interested in. For instance if you take Iowa, he guesses that this lad comes from that part of America, but he is not so curious to know more about him. When he cought a glimpse of the Japanese barber’s name, he adresses a question to him in Japanese. After that when he is asked: “Have you lived in Japan'” he answers: “Unfortunately, no.” This indicates that he is not keen on living in America. (Previosly I have mentioned that he is thinking about America what is going on there.) They can find a common topic that is the common Japanese aquaintances. If we talk about nationalities we must not forget about language, since every nation has its own. We can claim that the national language is the most important thing in a nation’s life. Its culture, literature, dressing and foods come afterwards. The characters of this short-story are in America, they speak English in order to be able to have a conversation with the others, it does not matter where they come from, they have to use English to make themselves understood. Actually English is a language first spoken in England, but now it is the official language of the United States of America. What can we say about that' Can we consider America as ‘nation’ or just a country' – Since we see by their origin many different people live there. To this question the answer is one of their mottos: “E pluribus unum (‘one out of many’): this motto obviously refers to the historical fact that Americans spring from a multitude of stocks, yet they share a common nationality.”1 Does the author think the same as well' He talks about race and languages. Let us see his idea about language first, as we have started with that question. The theme involves a great deal of philosophical reflection. These philosophical notions are mixed up with the writer’s own ideas, which may be observed as less philosophical, more romantic thoughts. He wants to speak a more universal language. More universal than what' It seems from the text that what he wants to say is that language is just a link between two people, a tool; everyone sees life through language. There is one possible candidate according to him: the “babies crying”, since they do not speak any language. It cannot be interpreted as a mature thought – a baby is going to grow up, it is impossible to avoid language through life, what is more, when he develops his thesis about race, he says that they are the “only race of earth”. The major contradiction in the work is Saroyan’s idea about the concept of race. He utters a sentence in the short-story: “I do not believe in races.” We will come back to this question later on. There is a third statement in the text that is: one can find the brotherhood of man in babies’ crying. ‘Race’ and ‘brotherhood of man’ are closely connected in this work. To elaborate them, let us see the two remaining nationalities in the short-story. The author reveals his origin when he reads the name of his barber, Theodore Badal, because it sounds if it were also Armenian. Throughout the whole text he utters the sentence: “I am an Armenian” five times. The first three are almost right after one another. What makes us puzzled is when he says that it is a meaningless remark. He also says that he does not know what it is like to be an Armenian. Nevertheless, he starts to talk about his people after he has asked Badal if he is an Armeninan. He gives us more than a page-length of information about his nation plus his personal experiences in connection with that. He feels pity for it because of the massacres and the decreasing number of their people. If we take a look at a history review of Armenia, we can see that they had a hard lot. Especially at the beginning of the twentieth century. There were genocides in Turkey and thousands of Armenians were killed. Then later on their country lost its independence and belonged to the Soviet Union. Back to the author, a contradiction can be found again, when he says he looks around for someone to talk to in his own language. Then why does he say that he wants to know a more universal language' Perhaps because he wants to understand everyone and wants to be understood by everyone absolutely clearly just as if he spoke in his mother tongue. But this may not be the case. When he starts his conversation with Badal, neither of them uses his original, national mothertounge, but English. So again this language problem is questioned. Badal answers that he is an Assyrian, and the author remarks that “It wasn’t quite as pleasing as it would have been if Badal had been an Armenian, but it was something.” Now what should we think about his statement: “I do not believe in races.” Is he consistent' If he does not believe in any race, he should not differentiate among people. However, by the end of their conversation he seems to be formulating a more clear thought about the themes being discussed, and enable us to get the conclusion. (Even though there still remain some undechipered parts.) Again, the first topic of their conversation is acquaintances they have in common. Then they begin to talk about the Assyrian and the Armenian language, and Badal says that he does not intend to learn his ancient language, because it is no use. “We’re washed up as a race” he says. These remarks are painful to Saroyan, because his people seem to be heading in that direction, too. Now he can see a man, whose nation has suffered even more than his, and Badal gave up, but he does not want to do so. Actually, if we want to define who the Assyrian are in the twentieth century, we should not think of the great ancient Assyrian Empire, because that ceased to exist in 612 B.C. There is a province in West-Arabia where the Assyrians live today, it is the so-called Arabian Switzerland. In accordance to Badal the Assyrians are seventy thousand people today. In fact they are a bit more: they are estimated a hundred thousand. When the writer leaves the barbershop he realizes that this person would like to get over the course of history remembering his ancient ancestors, having not forgotten his nation’s past. He lives in America, he has to manage there, it is his destiny. So is Saroyan’s. He will never save the Armenian race for sure. If we jump back to the crucial questions: “brotherhood of man”, “race”. Of course he would like that everybody would be equal, so then the term “race” would be useless. And then there would be no hatred, no fear, no desire for strength. But obviously it is not achievable, as he said the brotherhood of man could be found in babies’ crying. Only the babies are innocent. But when a baby becomes a man, he becomes the part of the mob, and this way ‘the brotherhood of man’ is an empty phrase. Just as ‘babies crying’. Saroyan’s aim may have been to create a piece of art in the 20th century that makes us remember the Assyrians. However, he called attention to the minorities in the United States in such a style, which would be a great mistake to disregard. Ádám Tibor Kovács 12th May 2006 Works cited Saroyan, William. ”Seventy Thousand Assyrians” American Literature 1900-1945 Course Packet Db. UP 2003 Preliminary Facts and Figures for AN352: American Culture and Institutions English and American studies, University of Debrecen “Révai Nagylexikona II. Kötet” Budapest, Babits kiadó 1992