Unknown Americas Thesis

What does it mean to be American? and how can someone become an American? First of all, being an American means to have education, good financial status, being secure and be free but also to love the country and all it gives you. To become an American, you will need to have a dream or a goal, these goals can be, having or giving a good education to your children, being able to get a good job, have a quiet life without economic problems nor any other kind of problems, and most importantly be a free person; once you are done with those goals you would become an American and love the country. In the novel "The Book of Unknown Americas" written by Cristina Hernandez, tells the story of a Mexican family who travels to the United States to solve a problem of his daughter who suffers from a brain problem. This family left all their past so that her daughter, Maribel, had the opportunity to improve herself and return to normal as she had been years before. The Rivera family came to an apartment building, where they met a great variety of people who shared the same or similar objective in their lives, these objectives could be from having a better economy, better health or safety or simply

escaping from problems of their countries of origin. Each person wanted to be like everyone else, they wanted to be American, be free, live safe, and have no financial problems.
Throughout the novel it shows us how it is that each character traveled to the United States with the dream of becoming Americans. The same happens with Rafael Toro who left his native country, Panama, along with his wife, Celia, because of the battles and wars that were happening at the time in Panama. He wanted to live in a safety place because, as he says, "We never felt safe again. We felt as if our home had been stolen from us... We're Americans now. Celia and I felt gratified when we see Enrique and Mayor doing well here ... So that makes coming here worth it We're citizens, and if someone ask me where my home is, I say the United States. (Rafael 23) Rafael and his family are a clear example of how they managed to become Americans because they fulfilled their purpose of living in a safe place, where they did not have any financial issues, they had what it took to provide a good education to their children and more important they had the same rights and be free to do what they wanted.
Del Toro’s family wasn’t the only family who achieve their goals and felt like Americans.

The Rivera family also wanted to improve the situation of their daughter, that is why they decided to take this trip and leave everything behind. They wanted to see Maribel as before the accident, this could be seen as their goal to become Americans. This was achieved at the end of the novel, when soul says "Suddenly, out of nowhere, there she was ... My Maribel ... There she was again ... The person Arturo and I had been waiting for, the reason for all of this" (Alma 282). All of this was exactly what Alma and Arturo wanted and waited for since the beginning, they fought against many things to overcome the obstacles; All of this has been worth it since they were giving back the life of

Maribel.
As mentioned before, the Rivera family fought many adversities to achieve their purpose of helping their daughter, Maribel. They had to leave everything, family, friends, material goods, work and more. Arturo left his own company to mushroom picking company, where his pay was the minimal and his work was too hard and tiring. Besides that, after a while he was unfairly fired from the job, leaving his family without any economic support. However, he continued fighting for Alma and Maribel, looking for job in a totally different country in which he could not even speak the language, which made it more difficult for him to find a job. Even do, after having gone through all this, in the end Arturo mentions "It's been difficult, yes, but I would do it all again ... I'm overcome when I think about this place and about what it's given us... A safe area to live, Such good friends ... I love this country "(Arturo 286). Arturo shows the love he has for the country that has taken away all his past but that even more important is giving his future to him and his family.
In conclusion being an American is someone who loves the country, someone who has receive something from the country, every person can be an American, no matter the race, culture, sex, or age. It is true that becoming an American is something hard and we might need to leave things behind, fight against the financial issues and work twice hard to survive, in some way, we would need to start a new life; but at the end, all the work and suffering will be rewarded you and all people who was with you during this time.