In the novel “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Cristina Henriquez, one of the most remarkable themes is the American dream of the Rivera family. Alma Rivera- one of the two main characters’s perspective in the novel’s first three chapters illustrate her and her family– the Mexican immigrants’ hopes for their new life in America. It is interesting to learn that the theme “American dream” in this book is one typical example of the immigrants who hold high hopes for a better life in America that they can leave everything of their old lifestyle behind. For Alma, the American dream is considered in terms of better education for Maribel- her daughter and better future for her family. The Rivera is one of many immigrant families who come to America because of a faith in good education for …show more content…
their children.
One of the basic reasons for the Rivera family to emigrate from Mexico to the North is because America is the only as well as the best choice they have. They choose America to bring their daughter, Maribel- who suffered from a brain damage after an unfortunate accident, because as instructed by the doctors, only in America Maribel might have an opportunity of recovering with the right way of education and effective care for her condition. Many families migrate to the United States from a country half a world away with a desire to change their life to the positive situation which meets their expectations of qualified life elements, such as climate, traffic, education policy and safety; while in this novel, the Rivera family decides to emigrate to America, which is not so far from Mexico. Although the distance between the two countries is not great, America is like a new continent to the Rivera family, when they, as well as any other immigrant families, some of whom are at middle age,
have to do everything from the beginning: to take care of the visa procedures, to find a shelter, to learn a new language, to find a new job in middle age. Migration is an important decision that can change people’s world, even turning their life upside down. It includes many elements: the determination of the family, good fortune, the amount of money and their own efforts. In this story, the event of the Rivera family’s immigration to America not only represents a good chance for them to make their life better but also requires from them much bravery, perseverance, efforts and motivation, of which the American dream of a better life plays an important role in, to overcome the challenges of language and different lifestyle that most immigrants have to deal with during the first days of new life in the United States. Having to struggle with some unavoidable challenges such as learning and communicating in English, finding new friends and neighbors, traveling alone with the likelihood of getting lost, Alma does make a huge effort to assimilate because she considers America as her and her family’s home. The word “home” is usually used as a noun to define a valuable place where family members live permanently, find it safest to be, and gather together after a long day of hard work. We can see that Alma regards America as her family’s home in the statement she makes after getting back from the gas station: “The three of us started toward the road, doubling back in the direction from which we had come, heading toward home” (Henriquez, 11). The wish for their daughter’s best education has pursued Alma and her husband persistently, which can be seen from the details of Maribel’s first day of school in the United States. Alma “woke up early, filled with impossible expectation”, while Arturo “switched shifts at work to be able to stay home for the big send-off”. These quotes state that they attach much importance to their daughter’s well being in school. Because the Mexicans are nationalists who are proud of long history and tradition, be reluctant to settle outside Mexico, their emigrating to a country which differs in language, religion and education like America is a journey with many obstacles. Things will not come easily to the immigrants despite their great faith in the United States. They will have to sacrifice some precious values. In the story, Alma’s husband lost the great position in his job which many other people dream of and a cozy house of a middle-class family in Mexico. In contrast, in America, he has the duty to pull mushrooms in the darkness of a mushroom farm, and his family’s new home is a small and dingy apartment with dark walls instead of a glorious house with red bricks as what Alma expected. However, the Rivera parents reach their goals: to send Maribel to the American school that is best for her and they feel happy with their life. Similar to the Rivera family's case, many families prioritize their children’s future instead of the opportunities of finding better jobs when immigrating to America. The more arduous the immigration is, the more kindly immigrants appreciate their new life. People who have the desire to emigrate to the United States often see money as their material standpoint to consider which country is better to live. They forget the fact that in any society, there are many other preciously spiritual values, which mean so much to humans, that even if people have a lot of money, life would mean nonsense without those values. Having the opportunity to see their children have the capability of studying in a suitable environment and believing in a better future for them is one of the priceless values for the parents. They will feel peaceful and self-answer that everything in life has its own value, and nothing can be “as easy as pie”. It is that when immigrants choose their country to emigrate, they have to kindly accept it in order to fully enjoy every day life, and this is why the novel is recommended for the readers to understand the remarkableness of the theme “American dream”.
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 push-and-pull factors in Enrique’s yearn for the U.S not only allows him to rediscover himself as an individual in a world of uncertainty, it also eliminates his constant fear of failing as a promising human being; in addition exhibits the undying hope of a desperate man found in hopeful migrants. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” his mother’s trip streamed “emptiness” into the heart of a once comfortable child and left him to “struggle” to hold memories they shared. Enrique’s life after Lourdes’ departure triggered the traumatizing demise of his identity. He threw this broken identity away while facing many obstacles, nevertheless each endea...
As you read you can picture his settings and characters. For the purpose of this book review, the reader will discuss how a migrant community in search of the “American Dream” encounters the “American Nightmare” as described by Tomás Rivera in his novel, “ …And the Earth Did Not Devour Him.”
For immigrants, reuniting with parents who left them is a huge problem in the U.S. Children who reunite with their parents after many years have a lot of problems with the parents. The parents and children tend to argue, the children have buried anger, and both have an idealized concept of each other. According to Los Angeles’s Newcomer School, a school for newly arrived immigrants which is referenced in Enrique’s Journey, a bit more than half of want to talk to the counselor about their problems. The main problem Murillo, the school’s counselor, says is mostly family problems. Murillo says that many parent-child meetings are all very similar and identical to each other. Some of the similarities are that idealized notions of each other disappear, children felt bitter before going to the U.S., and that many children have buried rage. Mothers say that the separations between them and child was worth it because of the money earned and the advantages in America. However, many children said that they would rather have less money and food if it meant their mothers would stay with them.
Immigrants come to America, the revered City upon a Hill, with wide eyes and high hopes, eager to have their every dream and wild reverie fulfilled. Rarely, if ever, is this actually the case. A select few do achieve the stereotypical ‘rags to riches’ transformation – thus perpetuating the myth. The Garcia family from Julia Alvarez’s book How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, fall prey to this fairytale. They start off the tale well enough: the girls are treated like royalty, princesses of their Island home, but remained locked in their tower, also known as the walls of their family compound. The family is forced to flee their Dominican Republic paradise – which they affectionately refer to as simply, the Island – trading it instead for the cold, mean streets of American suburbs. After a brief acclimation period, during which the girls realize how much freedom is now available to them, they enthusiastically try to shed their Island roots and become true “American girls.” They throw themselves into the American lifestyle, but there is one slight snag in their plan: they, as a group, are unable to forget their Island heritage and upbringing, despite how hard they try to do so. The story of the Garcia girls is not a fairytale – not of the Disney variety anyway; it is the story of immigrants who do not make the miraculous transition from rags to riches, but from stifling social conventions to unabridged freedom too quickly, leaving them with nothing but confusion and unresolved questions of identity.
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
The novel is an exposé of the harsh and vicious reality of the American Dream'. George and Lennie are poor homeless migrant workers doomed to a life of wandering and toil. They will be abused and exploited; they are in fact a model for all the marginalized poor of the world. Injustice has become so much of their world that they rarely mention it. It is part of their psyche. They do not expect to be treated any different no matter where they go.
When they first arrived to the United States their only hopes were that they would have a better life and that there were better special education programs for Maribel to attend at Evers. Alma imagined that the buildings would look a lot nicer than they really were. The family was surprised that they could take things from the street that someone threw out of their house, but were in working condition. When they arrived they didn’t think that you would actually have to learn English to be able to communicate, but after going to stores and interacting with people they learned that they need to learn English if they want to live in America. They hoped that you could be able to afford anything in America by working, but based off of the money Arturo was making they learned that you can’t buy everyth...
Love is powerful and could change a person’s personality. In “The Book of Unknown Americans”, the author Christina Hernriquez tells us the definition of love. It is a book combined with different stories but each story is connected to others. It talks about the immigrants that moved to America with lots of hope, but didn’t end up with a happy ending. The story is about love, hope and guilt and different kinds of emotional feeling. In the book, Mayor has an internal change because of Maribel, and the power of love. He wants to be a strong man who can protect Maribel. He used to be someone who couldn’t defend himself and he changed because of Maribel.
This novel is a great novel to give an example on how reality is to people even the high class. Through the discussion of the passage, poem and scholarly article will show how the path towards the American Dream can turn into a negative or positive outcome in a person’s life.
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).
The American dream, as some may call it, is a cherished idea by those who may lack opportunities. For those in Mexico, it is something that is sure to have crossed their minds sometime in their life. The United States, to foreigners, has been looked at as a sign of opportunity and freedom from oppressive governments or unfortunate living conditions. The Other Side of Immigration takes a look at the Mexican nation and provides thought-provoking interview segments about the people still living in the nation who experience and observe the effects of immigration to the United States.
In the United States there is an idea many pursue called the American dream, which differs from person to person. The American dream according to americanradioworks.publicradio.org is “a revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition”. Yet it has been said there is no real definition of American dream, instead it merely proves that it has an unconscious influence in American mentality (Ştiuliuc 1). The American dream is different for each person because everyone yearns for things that will they hope will in return make them happy. Whatever that may be, each person goes through different struggles to obtain what they want. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (3). The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse depicts the different interpretations on what the American dream actually is through the opinions and actions of Hector Esperanza, Efren Mendoza and Mrs. Calhoun.
The American Dream can obliterate any prospect of satisfaction and does not show its own unfeasibility. The American dream is combine and intensely implanted in every structure of American life. During the previous years, a very significant number of immigrants had crossed the frontier of the United States of America to hunt the most useful thing in life, the dream, which every American human being thinks about the American dream. Many of those immigrants sacrificed their employments, their associations and connections, their educational levels, and their languages at their homelands to start their new life in America and prosper in reaching their dream.
The American dream or shared American experience can be found in many of the early American written text and transcribed texts. Immigrants and native people indigenous to North America founded this country. Both of these groups seem to have similar ideas, which appear to be the formation of the American dream. One of the most prominent traits is hope that takes many forms throughout the texts. Through careful examination of the early American literature we can find this and other commonalities amongst the early American literary canon.