Of Cholos And Surfers Analysis

California was once a silent and an unheard-of place. Since Mr. John Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, the gold rush era started and California became popular. It has become a place where people expected to be successful and wealthy. For this reason, the gold finders from all over the world came to Sutter's Mill to pursue their dreams. However, many of them found that their dreams did not come true. In fact, they had to do lots of hard work that barely led to financial success. Was California a fantastic place? Could everyone have an opportunity to be successful and rich? Whether or not the “California Dream" truly existed or was just a legend, there was no doubt that there were many successful gold miners in California, but
In Jack Lopez’s personal essay "Of Cholos and Surfers", he explains that his father decided to become an immigrant to the states in order to give a better quality of life to the next generation of his family. Similarly, in Richard Rodriguez's essay "Proofs", he stated how Mexican people tried so hard to cross the border to America in order to get a better life. As the poor Mexican males said, "I will send for you or I will come home rich" (Rodriguez 65). They thought going to America as a "the right of passage", the "passage" to success. From the above cases, we can clearly see that people thought they could easily become successful in the America. However, there is always a dark side when the reality reveals. Once they stand on the land of America, in particular, California, they would find out the dream was not the way they expected. To prove this Rodriguez said, "The America that Mexicans find today, at the decline of the century is a closed-circuit city of ramps and dark towers, a city without God" (Rodriguez 66). He also claimed that, "The city is evil” (Rodriguez 66). It seems like "California Dream" has become a legend, and she is not a dream place for success