It is the dream of every immigrant, to live a worry free life in a new country that can offer so much. A place where one can work for suitable wages, a place where one can raise their children free of the problems plaguing their previous country and a place where one can grow spiritually and socially. Yet with these incentives, one can be put through an internal struggle between one's past and present. This struggle is over the decision of assimilating into the "new" society's beliefs, or clinging on to past cultures and lifestyles. Immigration is said to bring diversity and richness to Canada, yet "this richness generates issues or dilemmas for minority groups, individual group members, and the Canadian society in general" (Martin 7). Assimilation can be drastic or very simple, from changing one's diet (food eaten) to converting one's religious beliefs. In some cases it's beyond ones control, yet this adaptation can occur without one even realizing it. The determining factors of whether to assimilate or not are the morals and beliefs that the immigrant has been brought up on. If the immigrant was brought up on strong morals and beliefs towards their religion and nationality, chances are that the immigrant would rather be alienated and looked down upon rather than conforming to the beliefs and morals of the people in the new country. In the cases of Sleep On, Beloved and The Kitchen God's Wife, both Suzanne and Pearl (the protagonists), have the choice of whether to conform to the society of the new countries that they immigrate to or maintain old lifestyles. They do this by analyzing the morals and beliefs they were raised with, the difficulties they encounter once they immigrated and the thought of a "lost identity".
Growing up in Jamaica and growing up in Toronto are two very different experiences, and Suzanne went through the worst part of the transition. Growing up in St.