Julia Alvarez “arrived in the United States at a time in history that was not very welcoming to people who were different.” Alvarez was stereotyped and hurt because of her ethnic background. Her tone emphasized the depressing nature of the situation and the disappointment of losing everything and the treatment receive in the USA. Her tone of depression and disappointment emphasizes the pain she experienced because of the judgment in America. As her essay comes to a close her tone shifts to hopeful and relaxed. Alvarez is accepted into America “through the wide doors of its literature.” Her introduction to literature allowed her to begin to feel accepted into society. Since Alvarez is accepted into society because of her assimilation through literature she becomes hopeful for her new prospect and relaxed to finally be understood. Overall, the tone shift from depressed and disappointed to hopeful and relaxed is significant because it emphasizes the central idea of mistreatment occurring within a new society and leads to acceptance with assimilation.…
In The Box Man, by Barbara Lazear Ascher, the protagonist reveals that a life of solitude need not always be lonely. Though the Box Man lives a life of solitude as a homeless wanderer, Ascher describes his “grand design” and “grandmotherly finger licking” to convince readers that their assumptions about homeless people are unfounded – and that they can live a dignified life. By describing the Box Man as “dignified” and “at ease”, Ascher paints a vivid picture of a man who chose a life a comfort and solitude and defeated loneliness by becoming his own…
Richard Rodriguez is an American journalist and essayist who often writes about his life and the obstacles he has faced during so. He has become widely known due to his popular book, The Hunger of Memory. In the excerpt that’s presented, Rodriguez talks about how his life has changed tremendously due to education, and he goes on to describe how he feels “assimilated.” Rodriguez comes from Mexican Origins and is the son of Mexican Immigrants and throughout the excerpt he has an internal fight due to the fact that he feels as if he is now a stranger to his once familiar culture. However, the one thing that has taken Rodriguez as far as he has come is his education.…
In the Graphic Novel “Daytripper” by Moon, Fábio and Gabriel Bá, we explore a miracle child Brás de Oliva Domingos. In each chapter of the novel we uncover Brás’s life; furthermore, explaining and revealing people and events that have influenced his life in addition making him into the man he is at the end of “Daytripper”. Brás’s story is filled with all his life’s little and big moments that keep including his demise. Brás is a young writer living in his father’s shadow dreaming of starting his own writing career. Throughout the novel, Brás finds himself thinking of one’s own mortality. This really struck home in chapter ten.…
Enrique’s journey has taken him over 7 years to find his mother. Throughout his journey Enrique runs into trouble with authorities that take all his money and belongings, as well as thief’s who try to steal from migrants. Enrique cannot find trust in anyone because even if the authorities are robbing migrants, then they can’t be trusted. This government issue is hanging on a thread while, the government is not doing anything to help the migrants find their place in the world. When Enrique is 5 years old, his mother Lourdes moves to America to find a job to send back home to her home town of Mexico so that Enrique is able to go to school, and eat better food. As he gets older, he starts to beg for his mother to come back and feels lonely without her presence. He sets off on his Journey towards America to find his mother, and in the process runs into trouble with the authorities as well as muggers who take migrant’s belonging for themselves. His journey to find his mother is a test of his will power, faith, luck, and persistency to continue to his goal. With gritty determination and will to be by this mother’s side, he continues his journey despite of him failing many times to cross the border to find his mother. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario represents the dedication, and persistence of a young boy longing to find his mother across the border of Mexico to the United States of America, as well as the obscured rugged government control over migrants, its use of real life examples give the readers an idea of how life is for migrants crossing the border to start their new life.…
The journey to belong often proves to be a great burden; the lack of social stability generates a sense of loss and insecurity leaving migrants struggling to adjust to their new cultural environment. This is established in the first stanza of Migrant hostel through the choice of words such as “sudden/wondering”, which illustrates uncertainty and doubtfulness of what is occurring around them, therefore living erratic and uncertain lives. The idea of not being in control of their lives is further emphasized in the first stanza with the use of the simile “we lived like birds of passage”, this creates a image of migratory birds and represents how the migrants are at a point of transaction in reality.…
When one is exiled from his or her home, the absence from their native land may change…
Loneliness and reluctance are themes depicted in all types of media, especially in literature. In “Bartleby the Scrivener,” a clerk suffers from his previous work at a dead letter office and disconnects himself from the world as he descends into insanity, while in “Soldier’s Home,” a young soldier returns war to find himself unable to re-enter normal society and exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. Both Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” explore the theme of isolation and the inability to act in their characters.…
Theme: The Rhythm of Life Summary: This best-selling novel, published in 1993, is set in Santiago, Mexico, and consists of short interrelated narratives, each one focused on a single character. The work depicts the triumphs and tragedies of common people-a flower-seller, a healer, a fisherman, a teacher, a midwife, and others-whose lives are interwoven by fate and passion. The characters struggle to survive and prevail in a difficult and mysterious world, one edged by the rhythms and power and beauty of the sea.…
The Japanese- Americans were treated unfairly many times throughout World War Two, which later led them into the harsh circumstances of the internment camps. For example, In A Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida, states on page 305, that “During the first few weeks of camp, everything was erratic, and low on supplies.” This is saying that Japanese- Americans were put into internment camps, and were given only the bare necessities that they needed to live on. Having only the bare necessities can hurt you physically and mentally. Also, in A Grave Wrong, Joseph Berger gives you background knowledge of what lead up to the events of the Japanese- American internment camps , and…
In the course of their travel, Ernesto and Alberto discover the reality of their country filled with suffering, injustice and oppression affecting the lower classes of the social hierarchy. The journey allows the two protagonists to face self-discovery and come to terms with the class distinctions which are prevalent in the Latin-American society. Salles explores the concept of self-discoveryThe time spent at San Pablo, a leper colony in Peru served the purpose of further developing the self-discovery within the characters. In the leper colony, a river physically and metaphorically represents the social inequalities and differences which separate the classes of the social hierarchy that is, the staff living on the north side of the river, separated from the lepers living…
In order to illustrate the benefits of the “practice of the art of solitude,” Anne Morrow Lindbergh uses a variety of passionate diction, such as “quality,” “incredibly precious,” “richer,” “vivid,” “whole,” and “complete.” These words clearly demonstrate how embracing solitude generates one into a completely different person, as it paves way for a pure and replenished soul. Not only that, but solitude also makes one’s life more meaningful and mellifluous. Furthermore, through the employment of depressing figurative language, Lindbergh asserts that “Parting is inevitably painful, even for a short time. It is like an amputation, I feel” (36). Through the usage of this simile, it illuminates that even though separating oneself from his/her loved ones can be extremely agonizing, “…there is a quality…that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before” (36). By stating this quote, she declares that seeking solitude pays off in the end when taken necessary risks, to form a purposeful life. Lastly, Lindbergh’s application of deceptive syntax, such as dashes in between sentences and a plethora of commas, introduces new ideas and creates pauses to show calmness, implying that solitude mollifies our inner soul. With these rhetorical strategies, Anne Morrow Lindbergh transfers passion to the reader, thus allowing him/her to experience the nature of being…
Not belonging often goes hand in hand with feelings of despair, unease and uncertainty. “Migrant Hostel” demonstrates this feeling of angst and instability when the migrants are placed in an uninviting environment where fear of immigrants is predominant. The migrants’ insecurity and confusion is displayed through the rhetorical ‘who would be coming next’ in the first stanza. Furthermore, the fact that the stanza begins with “no one kept count” sets an ominous tone reflective of the hostile atmosphere of the foreign country, further underscoring their disorientation from being detached from a sense of a home and security. Moreover, the “comings and goings”, “arrivals of newcomers in busloads” and “sudden departures from adjoining blocks” uphold the motif of transience which permeates the poem, drawing attention to the state of instability, uncertainty and flux the migrants experience from being excluded.…
This essay implies to the reader that loneliness isn’t always a vile thing. The author compares somebody who has absolutely nothing in life but enjoys the solitude, to people who roam through life alone, seeking for company—but never find it. The author compares the chosen lifestyle of the box man, to the undesired for loneliness of the victims. The author explains that although one may be poor and alone, it does not mean that one is unhappy. For example, in paragraph 12 it is explained that the mayor has offered him help, but the box man pushes it away. In paragraph 18 it is described how the box man enjoys his dark life. It is portrayed that life is a solo journey and that one may be much more miserable by going through life accompanied than by being a collector of boxes.…
In The Wife’s Lament, the wife is exiled through multiple scenarios. The Wife is isolated and is tortured by her loneliness. She is exiled by her husband, her home, and her happy lifestyle. The Wife is forced to move to a far away country with her husband, while leaving behind her entire life. In following her husband, she is stabbed in the back by what she thinks is a faithful relationship of love and friendship.…