Tomas Rivera gives us this book showing us that during the 40’s and 50’s(20th century) Mexican immigrants were treated very inequitable manner. Depicting the struggles and hardships, he's able to make the reader sympathize with the characters and their stories. Stories such as “The Children Couldn't Wait” and ”It's That It Hurts” are a pretty great example that shows us the discrimination towards the immigrant children and how they are denied access to water, and quality education. Rivera also shows us the migrant workers determination, facing many struggles, including a death in the family these workers still work hard in order to move on and progress in the hopes of a better living. This can be seen in “ The Children Couldn't Wait” in the…
Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Barrientos was about a Latina girl who struggled with her identity. She was born in Guatemala but has lived in America since she was three years old. In the beginning she was somewhat embarrassed by her Hispanic heritage. Tanya felt inferior to the white people because of how she looked and because of her last name. The tone of the essay was a serious and desperate cry for help. It seemed she was speaking to anyone who could listen and relate to her. Tanya wrote from her point of view and how she felt like a “gringa” trapped in a Latina girl’s body.…
Throughout this story I feel like the theme that is stressed the most would be how Latin Americans had to deal with being discriminated against. Riots broke out between the Zoot Suiters and the public around the L.A. area during the WWII. Latinos were discriminated and accused of being criminals because of their skin and wild style of dressing They were known as the "Zoot Suitors". The suits that they wore had long, broad shouldered coats. Extra baggy pants that fit tight at the ankles. They wore a long chain pocket watch and a broad brimmed hat with a feather in it. This was how Pachucos dressed in their early years. This was how they felt they were able to express themselves but the public and the press tried to use their tradition against…
In the article “Jackie Rayos-Garcia Tells About the Deportation of Her Mother, Guadalupe García de Rayos” it tells the story of a family getting torn apart and not knowing whether or not they’ll ever see each other once again. It is an amazing story, telling the readers how hard it can be to lose a parent at a young age. The struggles one faces for being an immigrant is such a touching story, and the fear immigrants face everyday in their lives trying to hide where they come from and what they are afraid…
In the Early 1980’s political injustice and illegal immigration were big problems in America. These topics were also issues in the literary works The Bean Trees by Barbra Kingsolver and “El Salvador” by Noel Paul Stookey. Both works make many points of the wrong doings of the government and the hardships of Immigrants.…
The story of immigrant struggles is the major theme in Drown by Junot Diaz. Every immigrant has a personal story, pains and joys, fears and victories. This book captures the fury and alienation of the Dominican immigrant experience very well. Drown brings out the conflicts, yearnings, and frustrations that have been a part of immigrant life for centuries. In each of his stories, Diaz uses a first-person narrator who is observing others. Boys and young drug dealers narrate eight of these tales. Their struggles shift from life in the barrios of the Dominican Republic to grim existence in the slums of New Jersey. The characters in these stories wrestle with recognizable traumas. Yunior and Rafa in Ysrael and Fiesta 1990 confront the pain of growing up, the loss of innocence, and how misfortune just happens to fall upon them. The book argues of a world in which fathers are gone; people fight with determination for their families and themselves.…
Obstacles comes on any occasion, and finding a way out is challenging for anyone. Mexican American girl Esperanza moved to the house on the Mango Street the center of Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The neighborhood held numerous challenge for Esperanza, but she never abandon the dream she has. And that dream and hope allow her to write. Writing helps her continue when she experiences painful events like the death of her relatives, and even rape.…
Most immigrants are viewed as invaders of the United States and immigration is not a well understood topic. Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Bean Trees, shows multiple perspectives of people who experience i mmigration. In the novel, immigration was a topic that was initially unknown by the protagonist, Taylor. As the story progresses, Taylor meets multiple people that are involved in the many facets of issues facing illegal immigrants. This pulls Taylor into another side of immigration and as readers follow, it makes them question if it is better to follow the law or do what is right . The Bean Trees suggests there is more than one side of the story to immigration and immigrants. Through the use of elements of fiction, Kingsolver suggests some immigration policies are unfair, immigration can cause people to live in fear and become socially reclusive, and that stereotypes are not always accurate.…
The text emphasizes the hardships that immigrants often have to endure when going into a new country in the search of a better life or the American dream as many call it. The text potentially symbolizes America’s people as well as its culture because America has and is still today very diverse due to the wide variety of races, religions, and cultures that immigrants introduce when they come here. America can be seen as a melting pot because the different nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities of immigrants eventually “melt” together to create a common culture although several immigrants choose to retain their culture no matter what. The majority if not all immigrants leave behind everything they know and love to try and get a better life in a new country where there are more opportunities. America has always been a popular choice for immigrants as it has a plentiful of resources to offer such as employment, freedom of religion, and better education programs. Immigrants often choose to leave their home country because they have a family to sustain and their home country is simply not adequate for their necessities. In My Ántonia Willa Cather really focuses on the struggles that immigrants face upon arriving to their new country. People often think it is easy for immigrants to simply leave and go into other countries but Willa proves that it is quite the opposite. Immigrants do not immediately get a better life upon arriving to a new country which is depressing but it is the truth. Immigrants still have to face new problems that come with the change of countries. The problems that immigrants face in the new countries can sometimes be worse than the problems they faced at home which can be really discouraging. Willa Cather portrays the hardships that many immigrants struggle through the story of the Shimerdas, “tony was barefooted, and she shivered in her cotton dress and was…
In the story, the author is getting pulled in various directions. Rodriguez wants to stay true to his Mexican culture for his parents' sake claiming they, “...grow distant, apart, no longer speak,” but also wants to belong in American culture where his education has driven him to a position not many Mexicans get to or have to opportunity to be (Rodriguez 105). This story confronts the idea that anyone can succeed as long as they are willing to sacrifice their cultural identity in the process.…
I identify myself most with the story of “Daughter of Inventions”, because this story shows how a family who moved from their country, Dominican Republic to America. Their mission in America was to do their best, to have a better life, and a socioeconomic status by working hard. Being American has a profound message for many immigrants. They refer to it as, freedom, responsibility, and respect towards others. the purpose of immigrants who move to this country is to find freedom of this nation in different aspects of each individuals point.…
The House On Mango Street and “ Only Daughter” both prove that being an Mexican- American women is a struggle. As Cisneros shows her first hand experience, and as well shows it through story telling. Yet without telling a biography and going straight to the point she shows emotion by using literary elements. Sandra Cisneros Chose to use metaphors and imagery to express the hard ships of being a Mexican- American women. If Sandra Cisneros did not use literary elements to show the lifestyle of a Mexican-American women, the points that she showed in both the texts would not have been as powerful as they were.…
What is the american dream? Many people will answer that question by saying being successful in america. Others would say that having a nice house in a good neighboorhood, a good marriage, two kids and a golden retreiver is the american dream. Unlike these beliefs of what the american dream is for many latinos that come to this country the american dream is simply one word, survival. For esperanza her american dream is to get out of mango street. Something that she wishes for and is certain that when the time comes she will do. The house on mango street by sandra cisneros manifest all the stuggles and hardships latinos go through when they come to this country to try and achieve the american dream. Imagine going outside and not being able to read what the signs in the street say, or going to eat somewhere and not being able to get what you want because no one understands the language you speak. This is a huge struggle that all latinos face when they come here, the language barrier. Home is something that is far far away for latino immigrants. Home is family, friends, smells, food, familiar faces, the place you love. Something that most latinos don't have when they come to america. Esperansa knows that mango street isn't the home she wants. Longing for home is sometimes the biggest stuggle of being an immigrant. Something that esperanza has dealt with her entire life. In the story esperanza learns that achieving your dreams are very difficult speacially if you are a latino women.…
In today’s America Latinos face challenges and inequities because of their ethnicity, which has been made even more evident by the current anti-immigration political climate. It is obvious that Latinos in America, even those born on United States soil, have fewer opportunities for success than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, these injustices are minor compared to the overwhelming discrimination their forefathers were subjected to. As with many cases where a society is oppressed, an underground literature serving to vent raw emotions thrived. This literature documents the day to day struggle of Latinos in America, and can give us a picture of what it must have been like to be a Latin American years ago. It is…
I’ve chosen Ana Menéndez’s story “In Cuba I Was a German Shephard” because, since I’m a Latino, I thought I could relate to the story. The story is about four Latino men (two Cubans -– Máximo and Raúl -- and two Dominicans – Carlos and Antonio) that gather together every morning to play Dominos in a park in Miami. The story often goes back in time telling the reader about the background of some of the men – especially Máximo - and how they lived their lives in their countries before coming to America.…