The Latino Family Story Analysis

Each of the three stories involves a Latino family who has moved to a place where they do not feel entirely welcome. The first story is of a family from the Dominican Republic to New York, the second story is about a Puerto Rican family who moved from a Puerto Rican community to an Italian community, and the last story is about a family who moved from the country into the city. The stories involve the different ways in which each of the family members deal with being unaccepted as equals in these new environments. One commonality faced by the children of each of the stories is being bullied because of how they look and where they area from. Because the children look and speak differently than what is perceived as normal, they are treated
Another commonality among each of the stories is the concept of Latino masculinity. In the second and third story, the narrators describe a time where they were being bullied, and in both cases, the boys did not gain respect from their bullies until they fought back. There was an idea that they had to prove to others that they were strong and tough. One of the boys even went as far as thinking he was proving something to his father while he was fighting; and the boy in the third story ended up joining a schoolyard gang of other Latino boys. These stories revolve around the stereotype we discussed in class regarding the Latino masculinity, where Latino males are perceived as being aggressive, emotionless, and hot-blooded. This presumption is even evident in the first story when the father hears his daughter’s school speech for the first time and he erupts with anger and chases her to her room. From these types of stories, we can assume that Latino boys growing up in the United States are probably held to a standard where they are expected to be “tough guys” who are not afraid to fight people in order to prove something to those who they are
Another theme that is prevalent in each of these stories is the idea of the “American Dream.” Each of the stories involves parents who have willingly altered their lives in hopes of creating a better future for