Book Of Unknown America Analysis

In the past few months, Donald Trump seems to have become fonder and fonder of spouting off racist gibberish whenever there is a camera or a reporter nearby to capture it. However, what he never seems to realize is that for every racially biased supporter, there are ten others who are not allowed to tell their own side of the story. The Book of Unknown Americans is a novel which allows these ten others to tell their stories and contradict the preconceived notions that White America has formed about them. Cristina Henriquez uses the characters of Gustavo Milhojas and the Rivera family to discuss the idea of the American Dream - or more specifically, a parent’s American Dream for their child. In the novel, Henriquez uses the characterization of Gustavo Milhojas to help us understand Arturo and Alma’s American Dream; specifically, she argues that although America does its best to close doors to immigrants, they are still able to scrounge up enough opportunities to be
Even though Gustavo has experienced many roadblocks, such as horrible jobs and less than ideal conditions, he refuses to let go of the hope that his children can lead good lives back home in Mexico. Similarly, Arturo and Alma refuse to give up on the idea that Maribel can recover from her brain injury, even though America does everything in its power to change their minds with things such as difficult job conditions and Garrett. Even though public figures rant and rave and do their best to close immigrants off from being able to provide from themselves and their children, Gustavo and the Riveras prove that all that is necessary to do so is strong work ethic and endless