La Jaula De Oro Sparknotes

The movie La Jaula de Oro, is a life story of a journey of three kids from Guatemala to the United States. In the movie there are three kids Sara, Samuel, and Juan, they first embark on the journey through Mexico. When they first arrive to Chiapas, the kids put on a play to collect money for food, after the play Sara befriends this boy named Chauk. Who is an indigenous boy from Tzotzil, and also plans to get to America, and convinces them to come join the group. This group of kids is put through a lot during the film, it’s a very interesting journey for 4 kids to experience. This film shows the struggles and difficulties immigrants succumb and sheds some light into the harsh realities of what people don’t think about when they hear the word

immigrant. In the movie La Jaula de Oro is shows the struggles and outcomes that can happen when someone migrates from the Mexico to the US, the racism, sexism, and fight to reach the American Dream.
For many centuries people have been migrating to the United States, from 1492 when Cristopher Columbus “discovered” America to now with millions of people from around the world migrating. At first migration wasn’t viewed as negatively as it is now, it wasn’t until various attacks and wars that the US started to view migration as bad. According to Leisy J. Abrego, in her article, “Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love Across Borders” she states, “ After the attacks of 9/11, legal changes to criminalize undocumented immigrants further magnified and accelerated when the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was reorganized into the Department of Homeland Security with the purpose of safeguarding the country against terrorism” After this day everything changed in the United States, laws were put into effect and many more people were being deported. When people think of migration they think of the Latino community as the number one people, not is it only Latinos families who are migrated here but many other people from different countries. The United States is so popularly known for being “The land of the free” and everyone wants to be a part of that, many people especially women come to the United States while pregnant and have their children here so they have citizenship. People come to the United States to be more economically stable and have a better life and future for your kids.
In this film the director does a great job of portraying the harsh realities that come with migrating.

One of the main challenges people face is the language barrier, then come to the US not knowing any English hoping that some relatives or friends with help them. Not only is language barrier hard enough but there is also the difference between men and women that migrate, overall this general sexism that occurs and what goes behind closed doors when women are trapped into these circumstances. The one big factor that comes into play is the separation between families, many families are separated for years, before they can finally reunite. Mainly it is men who leave their families and find work elsewhere, with some men being gone for almost the entire year they like to send remittances back home to their families. In the book “Transborder Lives” by Lynn Stephen she talks to many Oaxaca families and their experiences with living transborder lives and how the women are now the ones in charge of the farms and children. Migrating to the United States can be hard because you experience this culture shock and hardships of trying to survive, some people are lucky enough to now people in America but other don’t know anyone and have to overcome more obstacles to

prosper.
This film does a great job in painting a picture of what it is really like migrating from a different country to a country like the US. The uncertainty of making it and the risk of possibly dying to cross a border, into the land of the free. Throughout the film you see the story play out, kids get deported and sent back but many return and begin once again. For example, in the film when the kids are riding on a train when it gets stopped by some bad people. They order everyone off the bus and tell them to get into a line, then they begin to pick out the women and put them into a truck. At first Sara is recognized because she is looks like a boy but one of the men realize that she’s a girl and take her away, the boys tried to get her back but they ended up getting assaulted and where left unconscious. That was the last time you saw Sara in film, to me that seen was powerful because that’s what really happens. Men and women are putting themselves in danger to cross that border. Many of the migrants from Mexico can’t afford to pay the coyotes (person that helps them cross the border) they make deals with bad people and end up smuggling drugs into the US. So many people take advantage of these migrants because they save all their money to be able to cross and the prices are ridiculously high per person. Some people take their money and leave them in the desert to die. Migrating to another country is scary and dangerous, but people are willing to sacrifice their lives to help their families in other countries and get them out of poverty even if it means doing something bad to stay alive.
The film is based on four kids and their journey to the United States. The main characters are Sara, Juan and Chauk. Throughout this film I noticed that every main character tells a different story of a person. Sara, in the beginning of the film it started off with Sara in the bathroom cutting all her hair and wrapping a bandage over her chest area. She then proceeds on to taking a birth control pill, at first you didn’t realize it but it foreshadowed what would happen to her. After she is done cleaning up she put on some men’ clothes and walks out, she converted herself to look like a boy for the journey. Juan, the leader of the group is portraying the stereotypical man where he acts tough and has this machismo type of culture to him where he must act like a man at all times and be aggressive. Then there is Samuel, Samuel was first part of the group and after a bad experience with the police and they end up getting deported back to Guatemala. Samuel decides to not continue with the journey, maybe it was because he was scared or maybe a realization that this journey wasn’t going to be easy. Last but not least there is Chauk, and indigenous boy from a small town, who doesn’t speak English and can’t communicate with anyone. He helps portray the indigenous side of immigration and how different it is for them.
Throughout the movie many systems of oppressions come up for example the idea of immigration is well-known in the United States. Being an immigrant in the US is difficult because of this hegemonic society we live in. In today’s world everyone who is different in judged by their race, class status, gender and sexual orientation. We know that we live in a country where only some people prosper because of their race or economic status, this gap between race and class is large but yet no one has tried to change it. Migrating from a different country is hard enough but when you arrive not knowing the language and the culture, you learn to adapt and progress slowly to fit in and not be noticed and try to avoid the discrimination. In the movie we see this discrimination against Chauk for being indigenous, how Juan dislikes him because he’s different and in his mind it’s okay to make of him because society tells him that it’s okay to do.
The indigenous community has been discriminated for centuries, because of their old habits and culture in today’s advanced society. The indigenous community is viewed as dumb and childlike because they not civilized and don’t use the current technology everyone else uses. In the movie there are many parts were Chauk is discriminated against for being indigenous and different. Even though he doesn’t speak the language he still finds a way for Sara and Juan to befriend him. The character of Chauk is telling a story because, he represents all of the indigenous community and how even though they can’t communicate they find ways to come to the US for a better life. In the book “Transborder Lives” by Lynn Stephen she interviews many wives and ask them about their life, how being a transnational or transborder family functions especially for women. One women state, “Beginning with the bracero program of the 1940s, indigenous women have shown great resilience and resourcefulness in coping with the changes that came, first, with male migration that left them Mexico alone with small children and then often with their own relocation to the United States” Throughout the books she talks about how difficult it was being a single parent especially working on a farm and the responsibilities and troubles that come being a transborder family. Just like anyone else everyone comes to the United States in search for a job and better life.
Migration in the United States is a touchy subject because with millions of people trying to migrate, harsher laws are put into effect trying to keep people out but they still come.

With the difficulties and the dangers of migrating are big, people are willing to risk their lives in order to reach the American Dream. People dream of making it to the US and having a big luxurious life when in reality all the jobs they can get is working in the fields and or factories. They discrimination they are going to face because how they look and speak, the idea that they may never make it to the top unless they go back to school and get a degree. The harsh realities with being an immigrant in the United States is big, always having to worry about ICE, or losing a job, this constant fear of being deported. In every society there is hegemonic society that prevails over everyone else and controls everything and everyone. In a country that strives to for every person to be equal is a myth, we live in a world were only the rich will prosper and the poor will get

by.