Fifth Post

This week I read another article in my Norwegian-American Studies and Records book. This article was called Boyesen and the Norwegian Immigration, and it was written by Clarence A. Glasrud.
Boyesen is a young Norwegian who comes to America after attending college. He decides to become a writer and he writes stories of American propaganda for immigration. These stories aren’t written by a government contract but the tales often make America seem appealing to the reader. Boyesen actually hated things similar to the American propaganda that he wrote but his writings were different because he didn’t completely glorify America without attention to facts or being correct. I really liked this man compared to Rasmus B. Anderson who I read about a few weeks ago. He had a real heart and American ideals broke it. He was accepted but only to a certain extent by fellow authors and they paraded him around for curiosity and as a novelty. During this time Boyesen broke from his Norwegian roots and began writing stories about other immigrants. One story that he wrote called “The Man Without a Name” seemed to resonate with his cause. The story told of a Norwegian who came to America and was struggling but taken in by a rich farmer. He became a music teacher and fell in love with his student a beautiful girl. He confessed his love for her and then went to sleep at her doorstep dreaming the she would love him. While sleeping on her doorstep he froze to death. This really summarizes what I think of Boyesen. He tried so hard to be an American and when he did few recognized his efforts and when he criticized America people jumped on him and told him that if he didn’t like here to go home. I am sure this was the kind of stuff that broke his heart. It hurt me to keep reading because he really just wanted to be accepted but he wasn’t and he wrote about that. In the end Boyesen ended up changing his feelings for Norway. He wrote favorably of it’s immigrants and how the were a very hardworking and frugal people. In the end I believe that he had sorted out all his thoughts and achieved peace within himself about what he truly believed in. I really enjoyed this article.