The first two chapters of “Madonna of 115th Street” made me think a lot about the role that religion plays in people’s lives. It appears that, for Southern Italian immigrants in New York City, particularly in Harlem, their deep devotion to the Madonna was not just a belief system. It was a system of renewal and rejuvenation throughout their hardships. I found it so fascinating to read the first chapter of the book, that present this magnificent and vibrant celebration and to then contrast it with the second chapter, which focused on the horrible living conditions that Italian immigrants endured. The two chapters almost seem to be describing two completely different societies, and yet they are one and the same.
When I though about it more, however, are realized that this seemingly paradoxical lifestyle was not a paradox at all. Religion, by its dictionary definition (although many people will interpret otherwise) is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman or controlling power”. Here are these displaced and homesick immigrants who came to New York to seek a better life. Orsi explains, however, that Italians who came to New York experienced the same extreme poverty and run-down living conditions that they had attempted to escape in Italy. The irony of it all would be enough to drive anyone into total depression at the thought that there is no better life out there.
That’s where religion comes into play. When one believes in a higher power, there is hope. These immigrants worked so hard and earned so little, and they needed all the hope they can get. I think that religious beliefs are the strongest in the face of hardship. There is a saying “there’s no atheist in a foxhole”, meaning that the times of our greatest fears and hardships are the times when we are most inclined to believe that there is a greater power above everything. When it seems that all hope is lost, the natural human inclination is to turn to a higher power. Sometimes the only way to move forward is to believe that there is a bigger plan of which we are simply unaware. I think that in their crowded and difficult lives, the Italian immigrants the needed their incredibly deep devotion to the Madonna in order to survive.
