America is a diverse country built through many decades of hard work by generations of immigrants like my grandparents and likely yours. The Immigrant Dream Immigration has been an integral part of american history since its conception. %PDF-1.4 %���� Immigration has a beneficial impact on society because it is an essential part of American values and the “American Dream.” Immigrants influence in creativity and determination to the United States economy. Clark Kent, only a Jew would pick a name like that for himself.". 0000006801 00000 n The novel remains one of American literature's more scathing critique's of capitalism. the American dream Bedeutung, Definition the American dream: 1. the belief that everyone in the US has the chance to be successful and happy if they work hard…. 0000001940 00000 n The American Dream describes the idea of the US-American society, which means that everyone could be from rages to rich, if you are resolute. 221 The American DREAM: DACA, DREAMers, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform Heather Fathali* “Immigration policy shapes the destiny of the Nation . The Immigrant Dream Immigration has been an integral part of american history since its conception. The American dream was a driving factor not only in the Gold Rush of the mid to late 1800s, but also in the waves of immigration throughout that century and the following. 0000003375 00000 n Hearing this, his father knew that he was about to lose a son. 100 31 Clearly, Kazan, despite his outsider status and immigrant background, achieved the American dream and was able to successfully share at least a fictionalized version of it with the world. The common denominator that ties this body of work together is a sense of otherness expressed by Jewish writers living in a predominately Christian society. Chabon's story was inspired by the mostly Jewish cartoonists that created comic book heroes like Batman and Superman from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. -Immigration changed American policy-1900-1915, about 13million people had come the USA-They had all come for the American Dream-USA was no longer possible to accept them all -> Immigration Quota Law (1924) -> limmited number of anual immigrants Ewa as a representative of the American Dream September 25, 2018 by Filter Coffee. 0000000916 00000 n Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. Poland, the seventh largest country in Europe, occupies an area of 120,727 square miles—some-what larger than the state of Neva…, For more information on Lebanese history and culture, seeVol. Many of these people long for home and do not necessarily crave the rewards promised by the American dream. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features 4, December 1996, pp. 2: Haitians. Obejas, who was born in Havana in 1956 and came to the United States as a child, is dually marginalized as both a Cuban refugee and a lesbian. Concert Poster 3) State 0000003347 00000 n Ah, the flawed logic of loving! Surprisingly, it helped her, although she was continents and generations apart, in a world whose values must have been unimaginable to a woman who had been married at sixteen and widowed at twenty-four, and who had only left Calcutta once in her entire life for a pilgrimage to Badrinath with the members of her Geeta group. She was twenty-seven, an age when her parents had begun to fear that she would never marry, and so they were willing to ship their only child halfway across the world in order to save her from spinsterhood. . Like Talese, Frank McCourt was a bookish boy who grew up to write richly detailed narratives about his immigrant experiences. There was a book in the ship's library, Crime and Punishment, and I thought it might be a good murder mystery even if it was filled with confusing Russian names. This time the protagonist is a male newlywed living in Boston, striving to make the American dream come true for himself and his new, homesick wife. They hope for a better job, better qualifications, a better social situation, because in this country everything is possible and everybody can reach their goals. His was a Protestant community; he was Catholic. Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. In A Life, Kazan's 1988 autobiography, he relates a disagreement over the scene between he and his production advisors. 0000010901 00000 n 0000003115 00000 n 0000011366 00000 n Lahiri, Jhumpa, Interpreter of Maladies, Mariner Books, 1999, p. 181. Arhiva contine 1 fisier doc de 6 pagini. "The New Colossus" McCourt, Frank, 'Tis: A Memoir, Scribner, First Touchstone ed., 2000, p. 5. It is rich in despair and anger over having to work so hard to attain the dream—he refers to the American dream as the "tormenting dream" in the book's prologue—that seemed to come so easy to the Ivy League crowd he cleaned up after while working in the Biltmore Hotel's Palm Court. The book begins where Angela's Ashes leaves off: with McCourt sailing to America. There have been two major stages of Haitian immigration to America, the fir…, The Imitation of the Rose (A Imitação da Rosa) by Clarice Lispector, 1960, The Illuminated Church and the Rayonnant Style, The Illinois Institute of Art: Tabular Data, The Illinois Institute of Art: Narrative Description, The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg: Tabular Data, The Illinois Institute of Art-Schaumburg: Narrative Description, The Idea of Genre in Middle Egyptian Literature, The Ice Wagon Going Down the Street by Mavis Gallant, 1964, The Immoralist (L'Immoraliste) by André Gide, 1902, The Immortal Bartfuss (Bartfus Ben Haalmavet), The Impact of European Diseases on Native Americans, The Impact of Immigration on the United States in the Twenty-First Century, The Impact of Immigration on Twenty-First Century America, The Impact of Radioactivity on Medicine between 1900 and 1949, The Impact of Social Policy on the Thai Economy, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/educational-magazines/immigrant-american-dream, U.S. Immigration: Sanctuary and Controversy. The American DREAM: DACA, DREAMers, and Comprehensive Immigration Reform Heather Fathali* “Immigration policy shapes the destiny of the Nation . 2 pagini). One of the least-discussed aspects of the immigrant experience relates to the working conditions foreign-born citizens and illegal immigrants are often forced to endure. . American Dream Father Son Relationship (54) Husband Wife Relationship (50) Immigrant (42) Independent Film (41) Mother Son Relationship (39) Immigration (38) Friendship (37) African American (35) Family Relationships (33) 328, 585. Like the father in the story "We Came All the Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" Although Lahiri was born in London in 1967 and raised in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, she was steeped in Indian culture from a young age. This fact is reflected in the rich variety of subjects and styles found in Jewish American literature. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 0000038318 00000 n USA Immigration and the American Dream – Believers and the Non-Believers September 25, 2018 by Filter Coffee 15% more Hispanics believe that hard work can get a person ahead as compared to Americans. Declan, Tobin. " Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1930 to Irish parents, McCourt and his family returned to Limerick, Ireland, when he was a small boy. It should be taken into account that if an individual is not a citizen he or she cannot benefit from what the country has to offer. U.S. After it became a best seller, Kazan translated it into film. They thought the gesture cliché and suggested it be cut. More specifically, she longs for her grandmother whom she loves "more than anyone else": She had struggled through the Bengali alphabet, submitting to years of classes at that horrible weekend school run by bulge-eyed Mrs. Duttagupta, just so she would be able to read her grandmother's letters and reply to them without asking her parents to intervene. 0000009559 00000 n THE IMMIGRANT AND THE AMERICAN DREAM. Acest referat descrie The American Dream Lost and Found.Mai jos poate fi vizualizat un extras din document (aprox. The American dream continues to tempt world citizens with its promise of financial security and freedom, but many who arrive, sometimes risking their lives to get here, find the actuality rarely matches the dream. Examples of tracts (posters) representing the American Dream : 1) Keppler, J. “Welcome to All!”, 1880 2) United States Department of Interior, Office of Education. The pay was immense: Gustavo said he was making seven dollars an hour. -He prostitutes her, bc she has to earn money to release Magda. 0000002047 00000 n Sammler, an intellectual, philosopher, and occasional Columbia University lecturer, struggles to balance the events of his past and the chaos of contemporary life in 1960s America: The persistence, the maniacal push of certain ideas, themselves originally stupid, stupid ideas that had lasted for centuries, this is what drew the most curious reactions from him. 100 0 obj<> endobj The promise of freedom and opportunity continues to lure foreigners to the United States, even though stories of hardship and isolation comprise the bulk of American immigrant literature. In the novel, Clay muses, "Superman, you don't think he's Jewish? . Published in 1992, Unto the Sons tells of Talese's family history, written in the author's well-known elegant, exhaustively researched style. Or the imperial ambition of the Czars in the Mediterranean. 18. In Immigration and the American Dream, Margaret Sands Orchowski cuts through the hype and discusses the facts of the issue-past, present, and future. The vote was 237 to 187 for the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019, which would grant dreamers 10 years of legal residence status if they meet certain requirements. "The Immigrant American Dream . Immigrants associate the American dream with opportunity, a good job and home ownership. Refugees, those who come to America seeking protection from war or political or religious persecution, face entirely different problems. Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. 0000009741 00000 n COVID-19 has done what no other hardship Divo has faced ever could, forcing him to place his American dream on hold. 102 0 obj<>stream 0000001527 00000 n Zusammengefasst erklärt er, dass der American Dream ein Traum von einem Land ist, in dem alle Menschen die Möglichkeit haben, aufgrund ihrer eigenen Fähigkeiten und Leistung ein besseres, reicheres und erfüllteres Leben zu … As a 15-year-old, he left Vietnam with a … Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. While the United States looks to the future by exploring the frontiers of space, Sammler is caught in the past, unable to distract his consciousness from the horror of the Holocaust. He embraced his American citizenship with pride and committed to learn all about his new nation its history, language, laws, and culture. Der Schriftsteller und Historiker James Truslow Adams hat den Begriff des American Dream in seinem Buch "The Epic of America" aus dem Jahr 1931 maßgeblich geprägt. When she had trouble making up her mind about something, she asked herself, What would Thakuma do? https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/educational-magazines/immigrant-american-dream, "The Immigrant American Dream Within the “Cite this article” tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Coming over from the old country, changing his name like that. It made me feel strange because of the time in Limerick when I had a job writing threatening letters for an old woman moneylender, Mrs. Finucane, and when she died in a chair I took some of her money to help me pay my fare to America. x�b```������ cc`a�8�(p �84�3l9`�@Ȁ_���c�asC�?� �;X�?1Neha�c�qPi�������)�|�� ��.\�8��}��#5���$�0`&/���ۙ����(�GȘd��n��8t�C"A��V�'��q�m�R&-h1h,�Ȟ�|�ʂC,�wJ��|�y�GǠ��r�W��8��� ��@�F����<5�*��ogLj��rS�A��E�. Immigration and the American Dream: ANTH 0831 a personal look at the immigrant experience as expressed through the immigrants' own voices Primary Sources Books Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, etc. The protagonists that narrate the nine stories of her 2001 collection, The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, share Divakaruni's sense of hovering between two worlds: one comprised of her family heritage and traditional Indian beliefs, the other made up of new, American ideas. Americans and Hispanics share common goals as milestones of the American dream. 3: Lebanese. "If you do not like the job, then you quit and go to another," he said to Eduardo. This made them heroes in a sense. 0000011190 00000 n They created worlds where anything was possible—worlds to which readers could escape. However, the date of retrieval is often important. One of the first writers to explore the world of exploited immigrant labor was Upton Sinclair. 0000057665 00000 n Overview 15% more Hispanics believe that hard work can get a person ahead as compared to Americans. Although she had an ambivalent relationship with her own Jewish-ness, Lazarus championed the Jewish cause in her poetry, writing about medieval Christian anti-Semitism from an early age. In 1912, his father, a rug merchant, moved the family to the Greek section of Harlem in New York before settling in the suburb of New Rochelle. However, most individuals are much more prosaic in their concep- tion of the dream. Like most immigrants during this time in Americas history, Luigi was processed quickly upon arrival and immediately considered to be an American. Immigrants bring USA Immigration and the American Dream – Believers and the Non-Believers. 0000010496 00000 n Immigrant literature is rife with stories of minorities within minorities—people whose religious beliefs or sexual identities contrasted with those held by their families or communities. Unlike immigrants seeking wealth and freedom as promised by the American dream, refugees long, instead, for the comforts of home. American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-19th century, the start of the 20th century, and post-1965. Wanting to give their children a better education and more opportunities, Morales’ parents chose to illegally enter the country in pursuit of the American Dream, he said. Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee, "The Unknown Errors of Our Lives," in The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, Doubleday, 2001; reprint, 2002, pp. Iti recomandam sa te uiti bine pe extras si pe imaginile oferite iar daca este ceea ce-ti trebuie pentru documentarea ta, il poti descarca. Immigration to American in the 1800's - The Great American Dream. The promise of freedom and opportunity continues to lure foreigners to the United States, even though stories of hardship and isolation comprise the bulk of American … trailer Topics also include a history of the American Dream, how to live it today and famous quotes about its meaning. It should be taken into account that if an individual is not a citizen he or she cannot benefit from what the country has to offer. 0000011099 00000 n "Give me y…, KOREAN AMERICANS. %%EOF startxref When he was nineteen, McCourt moved back to New York City, served in the army during the Korean War, and then worked a string of jobs before becoming a high school English teacher. 0000003319 00000 n Immigrants Then, Immigrants Now: A Shared American Dream 02/12/2017 06:41 pm ET Updated Feb 13, 2017 The Tenement Museum ’s mission calls on us to “enhance appreciation for the waves of immigration that have shaped and continue to shape America’s evolving national identity.” The dream of … Part of the experience of being an immigrant is learning to adapt to American culture. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. "The New Colossus" was written specifically for those Jewish exiles but offers a warm welcome to all immigrants. . Many people leave their home country for the American dream. He is an American citizen, an ordinary man from a farm in small-town America. Bellow, Saul, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Viking Press, 1970; reprint, Penguin Classics, 1996, p. 143. "The Immigrant American Dream Chabon captures the fantastic struggle between good and evil, both in comics and in American life: The Steel Gauntlet, Kapitan Evil, the Panzer, Siegfried, Swastika Man, the Four Horsemen, and Wotan the Wicked all confine their nefarious operations, by and large, to the battlefields of Europe and North Africa, but the Saboteur, King of Infiltration, Vandal Supreme, lives right in Empire City—in a secret redoubt, disguised as a crumbling tenement, in Hell's Kitchen. The dream of having freedom of, or from, religion. More recently, Jimmy Breslin, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, sportswriter, columnist, novelist, and would-be politician, wrote about the particularly sad life and gruesome death of an eighteen-year-old illegal immigrant named Eduardo Gutierrez. Daher wird zum Schluss des Artikels eine kurze Erläuterung zur Geschichte gegeben. Available at The Academy of American Poets (Web site); poem engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty When a letter arrived from India, she slept with it for nights, a faint crackling under her pillow. One of the first writers to explore the world of exploited immigrant labor was Upton Sinclair. 0000012809 00000 n The individual immigrant has always focused on mate- rial well-being and prospects for a better future, either in America or upon returning home with some tangible wealth. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. One of the more striking moments in the film occurs when the protagonist, twenty-seven-year-old Stavros, falls to his knees and kisses the ground once he reaches America. That is what makes him so effective and feared. 0000009833 00000 n The Jewish identity is a complex mélange of religious belief, ethnicity, and culture. • In the American history there had been an exception law to decrease this number of illegal Immigrants > 1986 Congress revised an immigration law to deal with illegal immigrants > Many of those who had been in the country since 1982 became eligible to apply for legal residency that would eventually permit them to stay in the country permanently . Chabon, Michael, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Picador, 2001, pp. 0 Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. The American dream that drew the original colonists and has drawn every wave of immigrants throughout American history is the dream of freedom, first of all. It was a duty expected of me, as it was expected of every man. Learn more about the American Dream for immigrants today from our immigrant sentiment study, and discover the stories of individuals pursuing their dreams. Sinclair's story of a family of Lithuanian immigrants employed by Chicago's Union Stock Yards is called The Jungle, which describes the dark horror found in the slaughterhouses. In Gay Talese's Unto the Sons, the author describes growing up an outsider on the small island of Ocean City, New Jersey, the son of a southern Italian tailor who immigrated to the United States in 1922. It was McCourt's poverty and awkwardness that made him invisible to the brisk, self-assured college students he envied as a nineteen-year-old. He explains the origin of his short, sweet dream: Gustavo, who lived behind him and had gone to America earlier, had called several times from Brooklyn and said he had a construction job and that the boss, Ostreicher, could use more workers. The dream of not being taxed to support an established church to which you do not belong. Immigrants and the American Dream In the article “The American Dream”, by James Truslow Adams in The Sundance Reader book, he stated that the American dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with … 2 Entstehung Der American Dream ist eng mit der Geschichte der Immigration verbunden. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. In reality, there are so many barriers rooted in the American system including racism, strict immigration laws that have prevented immigrants from sharing in this dream. 0000007004 00000 n Even Americans who have had a chance to adapt and become "successful"—according to the traditional definition of material success as defined by the American dream—experience feelings of cultural isolation and otherness. The final story in Jhumpa Lahiri's 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, "The Third and Final Continent," offers another example of East Indian Americans caught between two worlds. Elia Kazan, Academy Award-winning director of such films as On the Waterfront, Death of a Salesman, and A Streetcar Named Desire, was born Elia Kazanjoglous in Constantinople, Turkey, in 1909. Short Summary. But that is where the similarities end. I tried to read it in a deck chair but the story made me feel strange, a story about a Russian student, Raskolnikov, who kills an old woman, a moneylender, and then tries to convince himself he's entitled to the money because she's useless to the world and her money would pay for his university expenses so that he could become a lawyer and go round defending people like himself who kill old women for their money. 0000008182 00000 n 0000001464 00000 n Breslin, Jimmy, The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez, Crown, 2002, p. 57. Daher empfehle ich an dieser Stelle den Artikel über Immigration zuerst durchzulesen. 21 Dec. 2020 . Divakaruni's hybrid identity is the fodder for her sometimes autobiographical work, which deals mostly with the East Indian American immigrant experience. The Immigrant and the American Dream - Referat. In 1883, during the rise of American Nativism, she created a society to support the resettlement of exiled East European Jews to Palestine. When the novel was published in 1906 it became an instant bestseller and spurred the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act. 0000023583 00000 n I regarded the proposition with neither objection nor enthusiasm. By using the broad context of history, Mr. Sammler's Planet illustrates the distance between the myth and the reality of the American dream. In 1962, Kazan wrote his first novel, America, America, the tale of his uncle's odyssey from poverty-stricken, persecuted Turkey to America and the setbacks that accompanied it. 211-36. (December 21, 2020). 0000004550 00000 n The dark side of the American dream has, from the country's beginnings to present day, involved immigrants working menial jobs for long hours at poverty wages. In reality, there are so many barriers rooted in the American system including racism, strict immigration laws that have prevented immigrants from sharing in this dream. Having reached the promised land, immigrants find themselves faced with unimaginable obstacles. The movie version was named one of the best films of 1963. 84, No. 0000000016 00000 n These experiences contribute to her understanding of both integration and loss of culture, two predominant themes found in "The Third and Final Continent." The BBC's Katty Kay the past, present and future of the American Dream, the concept that has brought generations of immigrants to the US in search of freedom, and opportunity. “Americans All, Immigrants All” (1938-1938). The boys, based in part on real-life Superman creators, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, attempt to escape their troubles through the pages of their splashy comic book. It was only after McCourt retired that he pursued his dream of writing. 0000012643 00000 n the protagonist of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's story, "The Unknown Errors of Our Lives," longs for her homeland. Retrieved December 21, 2020 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/educational-magazines/immigrant-american-dream. Encyclopedia.com. . 291-313. One of the least-discussed aspects of the immigrant experience relates to the working conditions foreign-born citizens and illegal immigrants are often forced to endure. Perspectives on Politics, References External links H.R. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Politics Shortly after the November 2014 elections, President Obama announced a new executive action expanding deportation relief to parents residing without authorization in the U.S. whose children were born there. "It is your only liberty.". While living and working in America, he finds himself complacently obeying the centuries-old traditions of his homeland: My wife's name was Mala. The Immigrant American DreamIntroductionFor centuries, citizens of the world have arrived on American shores with little more than a suitcase and a dream of a better life. Talese, Gay, Unto the Sons, Random House Trade Paperbacks, reprint ed., 2006, p. 2. While writing for the socialist political journal Appeal to Reason, Sinclair employed his particula… Seven dollars in one hour! Emma Lazarus, who is best known for her poem, "The New Colossus," said, "The truth is that every Jew has to crack for himself this nut of his peculiar position in a non-Jewish country." The “American DREAM”: Understanding White Americans’ Support for the DREAM Act and Punitive Immigration Policies. 1, 1889; reprinted at www.libertystatepark.com/emma.htm (December 27, 2006). 'Tis is filled with the language of the exiled. Impoverished western Europeans escaping the Irish potato famines in Ireland, the Highland clearances in Scotland and the aftermath of Napoleon in the rest of Europe came to America to escape a poor quality of life at home. These groups are a result of immigration and the mobility of the population. The…, For more information on Haitian history and culture, seeVol. Eduardo's father had only one thought for him: that liberty is not the country you are in, but the job you have. Restoring the American Dream with Immigration ReformCommonwealth Club - Commonwealth Club of CaliforniaWhile the economy is beginning to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are falling behind and losing out on their chance at the American Dream. Achy Obejas, another immigrant outsider, is the author of the 1994 short story collection, We Came All the Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? While abroad, Lahiri spoke Bengali, dressed in Indian clothing, and ate Indian food. © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. Although immigration has taken many forms immigrants have always had the same goal, to seize opportunities in order to lead a better life and fulfill their american dream. Young, Bette Roth, "Emma Lazarus and Her Jewish Problem," in American Jewish History, Vol. Or in just a few words: “These findings are consistent with the ‘American Dream’ view that even poorer immigrants can improve their children’s prospects.” Lazarus, Emma Refugee outsiders of all kinds—people with AIDS, Cuban boat people, junkies—populate her stories. The title character of the novel, Artur Sammler, is a Polish Jew and survivor of World War II. Eduardo carried bricks all day for the equivalent of five dollars a day and talked about the money Gustavo was making in America. [ December 23, 2020 ] The “American DREAM”: Understanding White Americans’ Support for the DREAM Act and Punitive Immigration Policies Journals [ December 23, 2020 ] 2021 APSA RBSI Applications Due January 15, 2021 – Meet 2020 Bunche Fellow, Michaela Shelton Diversity & Inclusion Kazan, Elia, A Life, Da Capo Press, 1997, p. 444. America truly is a melting pot. Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream. The community was predominantly Irish; Talese was Italian. Divakaruni, born in Calcutta, India, on July 29, 1956, came to the United States when she was nineteen years old. Encyclopedia.com. In this article, learn what is the American Dream today and how it’s changed. Although the narrator is amazed and grateful for his very American achievements of owning a house and sending a son to Harvard, he feels pangs of loss over the culture he has left behind. The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez (2002) follows Gutierrez's path along the illegal immigration underground from San Matias, Mexico, to New York, where he gets a job working for a mob-run construction company whose bureaucratic practices made his death a tragic inevitability. Close Cite This Page. Latin American Immigration and the Future of U.S. Kavalier's family was left behind in Nazi-occupied Prague while Clay, a Brooklyn kid, struggles with secret homosexual urges and an absent father. They wanted to be the dominant naval power in the Mediterranean, a stupid craving of two centuries, and this, under the "revolutionary" auspices of the Kremlin. . Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000), features two Jewish cousins—Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay—who create a comic-book superhero with Houdini-like powers: the Escapist.