Margaret Atwood's poem "The Immigrant" primarily deals with the difficulties of not belonging, not fitting in, and not being accepted when one is an immigrant.

In two stanzas, Atwood conveys a sense of immigrant belonging that is not healthy, only to show a healthier picture at the end.

First, the poem shows that immigrants feel they belong to their old country. They idealize their former homeland. Atwood conveys this through imagery, which is description using the five senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. In stanza four, Atwood describes the old countries becoming "perfect, thumbnail castles." Immigrants, in other words, live in memories that leave out the bad parts of life back home.

Atwood uses a simile, which is a comparison using like or as, to suggest this is not necessarily a good or healthy practice. She likens these frozen memories to "gallstones in a glass bottle." Gallstones are an unpleasant image, so Atwood is suggesting that hanging on to these memories is as pointless and unpleasant as hanging on to one's gallstones. This is not a good way of belonging because it keeps you from assimilating into your new home.

In stanza five, Atwood shows another way that immigrants try to belong, again using imagery. They transport their "carpetbags," "trunks," "clothes," "dishes" and family photos to their new home. We can visualize immigrants bringing all these items with them. She says they do this to "make an order like the old one." She employs a metaphor, which is a comparison not using like or as, to compare immigrants to artists, saying that they try to "carve children and flocks out of wood." This suggests they embrace stasis and resist change.

Overall, Atwood's poem is a grim reminder of the difficulties of belonging to a new land. Perhaps the most positive imagery comes at the end, in her vision of immigrants traveling in what seems to be trains or buses, "heads stuck out of windows," "drinking milk or singing." These images show them engaging in active, vibrant ways with their new country. This kind of engagement is important in order to acclimate to your new community and feel as if you belong.