The Dreamer By Junot Diaz Summary

A Response to "The Dreamer" by Junot Diaz Generations past guide our futures. The sacrifices and triumphs of our elders shape the environment in which we are born into, how we grow, and where we are today. My great-great-grandmother was able to leave Budapest, Hungary and come to America. My great-grandmother was able to obtain an education that would not have been readily available to her in her homeland. This has allowed me to be born into a free world, where education is the norm. Likewise, in the essay "The Dreamer", Junot Diaz describes the childhood dreams of his mother to obtain an education while living in the third world, rural area of the Dominican Republic. Diaz uses the struggles of his mother

Thinking about a little girl purposefully drinking out of stagnate water, shows how determined people from other countries were to have the benefits we have here in America today. The severity of a young child almost killing herself in a desperate attempt to go to school, makes one realize how fortunate they really are. The hardships Junot’s mother went through inspired him to keep going when he was struggling with his writing. Because his mother was fortunate enough to come to America, he was able to become an accomplished writer in a free country. Junot’s mother aspired to be a nurse. “When the field hands were hurt or fell ill, she was the one who cared for them.”(Diaz 1), but of course living as an uneducated girl, in a third world country, on a farm, did not give her the right requirements. When the law was passed forcing children under 15 to go to school, she was filled with excitement. However her mother, Junot’s grandmother, was not pleased with this, and beat her everyday she went to school. Junot’s story is similar to that of my great-grandmothers. She never even thought about attending a college. If she would not have left Hungary she would not have went to school at all; in fact she may even have died, ending our family line. My great-grandmother came over to America as a laborer’s child, but was able to attend school, unlike if she would have stayed in Hungary. She too would have toiled in the fields even at

Because my family sacrificed everything and came to America, I was able to be married and have children relatively easily. My husband has never had to leave us for a long period of time, or move us across the country. We were born into America, living a life full of luxuries that we do not even realize are luxuries, all because my ancestors moved here long ago. My children do not have to worry about what the next day holds, or whether they will be able to eat at dinner time. They get to go to college at a young age without any terrible sacrifices. My oldest daughter will have her associate’s degree right out of high school, and will become a doctor, something my ancestors never had the chance to do. It is crazy to think that my ancestor’s barley got the opportunity to go to school, and yet my youngest daughter is the youngest person to attend college here in Ashland. I am the first one in my family line to go to college, and am blessed with the opportunity to choose my occupation, something my ancestors didn’t get to do. This is the same for Junot, who was able to choose his own occupation here in America. Unfortunately Junot’s mother “never did become a nurse…Immigration got in the way of that horizon—once in the United States, my mother never could master English, no matter how hard she tried, and my God, did she try.”(Diaz 1). But because she wanted so much more for her son, she strongly encouraged