Summary Of When I Was Puerto Rican

Being the child of immigrants is not an easy task. What complicates things even more is struggling to find an identity outside of your family. Not finding just any identity, mind you, but your own. I say this because unless you plan to live at home with your parents until the day you die, you will have to establish individuality and a purpose of your own. Such is the case of one Esmeralda Santiago, the author and subject of the book, ‘When I Was Puerto Rican’. This book is about her eventful path to adulthood, both as a woman and as a member of a minority. From her nomadic days in the rural areas of Macún, Puerto Rico, to her family struggles in Brooklyn, New York City, to finally graduating from The High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan,
Her family is always transient, whether due of lack of funds or a better chance of employment and education, they always seem to be on the move. Add to that an unstable and toxic parenting situation, and you can see why this is not a tailor-made environment for success. Her father stays with her mother off-and-on with seven children between them, Negi being the oldest. Often being asked to be the third ‘parent’ in this relationship, she is caught between her love for her father, and seeing the pain that he causes her mother. This unsolicited obligation takes its toll on both mother and daughter. Because her father goes away for days at a time, her mother juggles between yelling at him for cheating, then welcoming him back to their bed. Her parents never married. It is no wonder that Negi believes herself misplaced. She is trying to establish some positive identity in a world of negativity. Even when her mother moves the family to Brooklyn, she still tries to determine who she really is. The ironic thing is, once her mother finally leaves her father for good, there is a sense of peace in her life. While life in New York City is still hard, at least here her mother is living on her own terms, not someone else’s. She is forced to mature now, using excellence in school a way of release from the stress of home life. The
Ms. Santiago does agree with that, but she also shows that even family relationships can be strained. Look at the dysfunctional dynamics: her grandparents, who live in separate rooms in the same house, Her cousins who are allowed ‘to get away with murder’ with little parental restraint, her perverted uncle in Brooklyn, and her father, who has another family besides Negi’s. I believe Ms. Santiago was trying to show is that yes, we are very close, but that closeness comes with a