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In the memoir The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande, the author, tells of her experiences in the United States after her unconventional journey to get there. Whilst in the United States many things scare her, like her sketchy neighborhood, and other things fill her with anticipation, like her first day of school. Reyan was especially excited to see the ocean for the first time in America when going to the beach with her new family, including her long-lost father. Doing this was one of the many things that made her feel at home in America, but as time progresses there were things making her feel homesick. At school she was very put off about the way she was poorly treated, being a new Hispanic student. “I wished I didn't have to sit here in
a corner and feel like an outsider in my own classroom,” Reyna states as she feels left out from the English-speaking side of the class. At times like this, she wishes she could go back where everyone understood each other in their native language, but most of all “there were things we had in Mexico that we no longer had [in the US]. Mago, Carlos, and I missed out freedom.” Reyna felt especially homesick because she knew no one outsider her very own family, and she misses the fact that she can no longer walk outside and “feel safe”. There are many other factors that make Reyna feel like going back home, but so many more that make her think America is where her future lies.
The book “The distance between us” is the story of immigration written by Reyna Grande. The book recounts her true personal story before and after entering the United States. The story shows how poverty and parenting impacts the family. Grande was 2years old when her dad left her, 4 years old when her mom (Juana) left her and her two siblings (Mago and Carlos) with her grandmother in the Mexico. Since, then she was seeking her parents either her dad or mom in the story. Her illegal and undocumented entry in the United States depicits the struggles and challenges she faced while crossing the border. After she arrived in the United States she found that living in the U.S was not that easy what she has dreamed for and “The man behind the glass” was not like that what she had met before. Her siblings were angry because of their not supportive mother and abusive father which weaken their intimacy in the family. Instead, Mago her elder
The United States has often been referred to as a melting pot. Whether or not that statement is an accurate representation of the denizen of the United States, it still carries with it the appropriate connotation. The United States is a mixture of many different peoples, cultures, and traditions. For millions of people, that means that they identify with the culture of the country they come from, as well as the culture of the United States. This causes feelings of isolation and discomfort for people experience these potentially conflicting cultural identities. In the poems “Legal Alien” by Pat Mora and “The Translator at the Reception for Latin American Writers” by Julio Marzán, this theme is explored in great depth. Throughout both poems, the use of diction, irony, and form emphasize the poets’ feelings of isolation as a direct result of conflicting cultural identifies.
The book, “Y no se lo trago la tierra” by Thomas River grasp a point of view of a migrant community, as manifestations of Chicano culture, language, and experience as understood by a first person point of a young male protagonist. The setting of the book takes place of a year during the 1950s and uses a variety of perspectives and voices to follow the boy’s passages into adolescence. As the setting of the book moves from Texas to upper Midwest to the ye...
She has never had to experience the idea of fitting in with her own culture. Being American is simply natural and a way of life for her. Traveling to another country, especially to one that was nothing like she expected it to be, helped to her stumble upon some important insights. She states being away from her own culture did not change her but made her able to realize what values and habits were the most important to her. In the other story, author Patricia was of Korean descent, but was born and raised here in America. Due to her Korean descent Patricia never really knew for sure where she belonged. She used a name to describe it, “hyphenated Americans,” because she looks like she is from another country but was born and raised here. People right on the streets of New York will ask her where she is from and compliment her on her good English skills. This makes it difficult to truly identify as an American. To really know what values and habits are her own. Traveling to Korea, visiting what they have called her homeland, taught Patricia some important insights of her own.
Yolanda’s upbringing was strictly Catholic and Dominican, and to be suddenly thrust into a new world with new cultures and beliefs leaves Yolanda confused. For the most part, Yolanda cherishes her culture and religion. But when surrounded by Americans who do things differently than her, and feel confident in the way they do things, Yolanda wishes she could be like them: “For the hundredth time, I cursed my immigrant origins. If only I too had been born in Connecticut or Virginia, I too would understand the jokes everyone was making” (Alvarez 94). Yolanda wants to be an American and to understand their ways. Being different from everyone takes a toll on Yolanda’s sense of identity. She is riddled with conflict between who she is and who she wishes she could be. She sees herself as being worse or worth less than the Americans, and has to face this on an everyday
Within the memoir The Distance Between Us the author, Reyna Grande provides details about her two grandmothers, Abuelita Chinta and Abuela Evila. They both reside in rundown houses in Mexico, while their children , Reyna’s parents try to start life in the United States. They have very little money and struggle to provide for the abundance of people living in their cramped houses. Despite the fact that their situation is similar Reyna prefers living with one over the other.
The purpose of the article “Navigating Love and Autism” by Amy Harmon is to emphasize that autistic people can achieve love, even though the struggles of autism are present. In this article, Jack and Kirsten both have autism and are working to build a dating relationship. For Kirsten and Jack, being comfortable is a huge aspect in their relationship. After their first night together,
In document C, Mamacita’s husband exclaims to Mamacita, “We are home. This is home. Here I am and here I stay. Speak English. Speak English. Christ!” When Mamacita came to the United States, she didn’t know any English, so she had a hard time understanding everyone around her. This leads her to miss her old home back in her home country, but it takes a long time for her husband to understand that she is going through a rough time trying to get used to everything. When moving into a country to stay permanently you can have a hard time to getting used to things which can make you wish everything was like it was before and make you feel hopeless. In document D, Esperanza is re-telling the story of Geraldo, a guy Marin met at a dance. She explains, “His name was Geraldo. And his home is in another country….Geraldo–he went north … we never heard from him again.” Geraldo came from another country probably to visit but he got into a hit-and-run accident and died. He didn’t have any identification with him, which made the situation worse since no one knew who he was. No one knew what happened to him back in his home country since in the U.S. no one knew who he was or what he did or who his family members were. Using documents C and D, it was proven that moving into the United States can be an obstacle you can face when trying to achieve the American
Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating
Before they go to the US, they have an idealized image of the US in their minds. They are pushed out of their own country due to systemic violence and have seen images of the US in magazines that make life there look glamorous. They risk everything they have—including their own lives—to get to “The North” because they view it as a land of wealth and opportunity. However, when they actually make it to LA, things aren’t quite as they imagined. They struggle to find and keep jobs, they live in constant worry of being caught,
Reyna Grande in her book “The Distance Between Us” recounts her life journey from living in poverty in Mexico to living in prosperity in America. One quote encompasses the motivation for the mass migration north of illegal immigrants. Grande’s mothers words “But no poverty here can compare to the poverty we left behind” (224). Grande describes the poverty that pushed her family north. It was the hunger in the pit of the stomachs of men and women. The scarcity of jobs that didn’t allow men to provide for their families. “Back then, I didn’t know that Guerrero was the Mexican state with the most people emigrating due to the scarcity of jobs. I hadn’t know that a year before he left, my father had already been leaving home to find construction work in Acapulco, Mexico City, even as far as Mazatlan, Sinaloa until eventually making his way farther north,” (59) wrote Grande. Hunger is a powerful motivator for migration. As Grande describes in her book parents leave their children in hopes of finding a better tomorrow. Providing their children with food, clothes and an education. As long as Latin America is poverty stricken people will migrate north, some will bring children. To escape the hardships of poverty, the lice, the worms swimming in the bellies of children. Poverty that is a result of US policy. In an article titled “The Political Economy of the “Illegal Immigrant,” by Steve Martinot, he writes
I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
Sonia Nizario's novel Enrique’s Journey Shares experiences of immigrants from Mexico (mainly younger kids) creating a journey to the United states, where freedom lives. The main idea of the story is about a little boy named Enrique who is planning on leaving everything behind to reunite with his mother who left him. Her audience appears to be everyone to show them the suffrage these immigrants had basically gone through in order to find freedom. This proves to us these human beings are willing to go through anything to be like the average American. Nazario backs up all her information she provides us with, by providing us with facts. She states “I lived with the near-constant danger of being beaten, robbed, or raped” Therefore she literally went through what the immigrants went through themselves.
Even before arriving to the United States, the fear I felt was not having the familiarity of home (St. Lucia). Moving to the U.S meant that I had to start my life all over again. This time it would be without the unwavering support of my family and friends. Whether I succeeded or failed in school was entirely up to me. It wa...