Because they were stolen from they had to get jobs at a not so friendly Sweatshop only making a grand total of a dollar a week. Because of the poor conditions faced by Joseph and Shannon, this movie was in fact a very accurate portrayal.
Additionally, this movie was an accurate portrayal because of the prejudice faced due to Joseph and Shannon being native to Ireland. When it came to finding jobs they were very blatantly and rudely turned away because they are Irish. Nativism was often faced by many immigrants when coming to America. Because of the discrimination Joseph and Shannon faced, this movie was an accurate portrayal of prejudice. On the contrary, this movie was not an accurate portrayal due to being overly sugar coated and what little difficulties Joseph and Shannon faced on their journey to the “American Dream”. There were many times in the movie situations were romanticized which gave the audience a false idea of what struggles Joseph and Shannon were actually facing. For example, when it came to actually getting to America it only took a simple boat ride to get here, unrealistic. Moreover, the main characters faced little difficulty once they arrived. For example, Joseph left his job to fight and easily made money, once again, unrealistic. Although some points in the movie lack difficulty and are romanticized this movie was in fact an accurate portrayal of the difficulties faced by immigrants because of the awful living conditions