Rachel Swed
Reflection 5 of 5
The man in the White Sharkskin Suit by: Lucette Lagnado
In her book The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, Lucette Lagnado begins talking about her father’s life as a successful businessman always dressed in fine attire. Living in Cairo, her father, Leon had a very busy schedule that included waking up to pray at the crack of dawn, going to work, and staying up late gambling way past midnight which he would finally go to bed and start his day all over again. Leon’s lifestyle ended shortly when he met his wife Edith and she was expecting her first child. However, when Leon discovered it was a girl, his lifestyle quickly continued to Edith’s dismay. Edith and Leon had three more kids including our author Lucette known as Loulou in her book. In Cario, everything was very family oriented, Leon lived with his mother Zairfa and cousin Salamone. The family lived a lavish life with expensive clothes, maids who did all the housework, and a spacious house on Malka Nazli street. Everyone loved living in Egypt. But this took a huge turn when Nassar took control and there was a lot of anti-semitism in the area. Many relatives already moved to Israel or America. Nevertheless, Leon was reluctant to leave his life in Egypt. However, one night Suzette was arrested and this made the decision for Leon and the family to leave. The new government of Egypt pronounced that people could not take a lot of money with them only clothes. So, the family bought a lot of fancy new clothes and left Egypt with twenty-six suitcases. They stopped at Paris where they stayed in a dingy old hotel until the family knew where they wanted to go. They were torn whether they wanted to reunite with family in Israel or America. When they were sure they wanted to go to Israel, Edith’s mother, Alexandria died. This discouraged them from going to Israel so they then decided to go to America. When they arrived, they were situated in another hotel. This time, they were pressured to find an apartment right away and get settled on their own. Leon, already an old man, had a hard time finding a job. The older kids went to work right away. Leon settled for selling ties and cloths to strangers on the street with Loulou. They found a four-room apartment in Bensonhurst and settled down. Even in America, Leon still longed for Cairo. However, Loulou wanted to be more Americanized like having a sofa with a plastic slipcover. In America, they still move a few times when their circumstances change such as, landlords kicking them out or when Suzette and Caesar left they found a smaller two-room apartment. Moving to America was a very hard change for the Lagnado family but they managed and found their way eventually.
This book connects to our theme of intersecting identities in NYC because the Lagnado family is moving from Egypt to Paris then to NYC. This was a huge change and transition for them since they were so used to their uniquely tailored clothes and buying food from carts that people brought to their door, not at department or grocery stores. The book was great at relaying first hand what it was like to move and experience different places throughout their life. This book also shows how immigrants can either learn to assimilate or keep their own traditions and cultures. As it says in the book, Leon would still eat like he was in Cairo with pita bread, feta cheese, and olives. Meanwhile, Loulou would want to dress like the other kids in her class and have lunches like them as well. Although it took them awhile to get their footing in NYC especially as both Caesar and Suzette (two people who were helping them pay for the apartment and food) left, the old couple found their way to get around NYC. Edith worked at a library, which helped them pay for many things. Leon, who at the beginning tried to help by selling ties in the street, (at his very old age) mostly sat and read from his red prayer book because he could hardly walk with his bad leg.
One quote that I found memorable in this book was when Lagnado was talking about how Edith and Leon were always sad about their loss and leaving Cairo. However, “ a lot of the old fineries that meant nothing to anybody anymore, and certainly nothing to their distant, assimilated, self-absorbed, and thoroughly Americanized children”(Lagando 309). Leon in his very old age sat with a small suitcase always on his side waiting for the opportunity to go home. While his kids went on with their own lives not caring that their parents were getting sick and too absorbed into their own lives to even care about theirs. This quote was unforgettable to me because it made me aware of the generational difference between Lagando and her parents. Lagnado and her siblings have different perspectives, values and outlooks on life than their parents due to the shift in the environment in where they were raised and the culture they were exposed to. From having no choice but to leave their homeland to adjusting to a new lifestyle, this story emphasized on the successes and tragedies of the Lagnado family. Lagnado does an exceptional job in depicting integral events that engage her readers by telling her story of her family’s migration to America.
Questions:
- Is it difficult for all immigrants to assimilate into American culture?
- Even after Alexandria died, why didn’t the family go to Israel when they realized no one in America would even care enough to greet them at the dock?
