Written by Sonia Nazario, Enrique's Journey is a book that has a profound impact on readers beyond just increasing their knowledge of the hardships faced by immigrants. The book has the power to evoke empathy and create an emotional connection between the reader and the immigrant experience. It highlights the dangers and risks associated with migration, sheds light on the issue of family separation, and encourages readers to take action and advocate for change. By sharing the perilous journey of Enrique in search of his mother Lourdes, Nazario brings to life the human side of immigration, making it personal and relatable for readers. First, the book exposes readers to the realities of poverty and the economic inequality that drives many immigrants …show more content…
In this book specifically, the separation of children from their mothers. From the moment their mothers say goodbye, children consider their mothers to be, “larger than life,” (7). In their mothers’ absence, children long for their care and support. This highlights the importance of a mother’s role in a child’s life. Even in more developed countries, some children suffer psychologically while growing up due to the absence of a mother-figure, or any other parental figure. This proves that this is a universal experience that should be brought to light. Like the other migrant children, Enrique believed that all of his problems would be resolved once he found his mother. However, when he finally reunited with her, he is only reminded of the emotional damage his mother caused him. Blinded by his anger, he expresses emotional distress directed at his mother by saying, “‘You long ago lost the right to tell me what to do,’” (198). From the moment he is left behind in Honduras by his mother, Enrique struggles to cope with his feelings of abandonment. He grows up without the love and nurture of his mother, and this affects his self-esteem, leading to a sense of worthlessness and hopelessness. Without someone to guide him, he falls into the life of a delinquent, sniffing glue and doing drugs. It is evident through his journey that family separation ingrains devastating effects on him and other
In a lonely street where to the sun is about to set in, you come home from school to see that your dad is just greeting you in front of the house but the only love the best is your mom. Every day when you miss her, you try to call her and write the letter to her better than seeing her face to face is the best where the son heart is at. In Enrique Journey by Sonia Nazario, shows an enormously sad reaction in this book. Immigrant is a big issue in the Mexico because they risk a lot of their live to find their mom in the United State where she finds work and sent money to the Mexico.
The book I am reading is Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. I predict that the author will explore the human rights issue of Immigration Laws and the plight of illegal aliens in the United States. I believe that this issue will be important in the story because Enrique the main character in the story is very driven to find his mother who has gone herself illegally to the United States to earn money to provide an education for her children and to better the life of her family. I made this prediction because Lourdes leaves her children in Honduras as she goes to make money in the United States and her son Enrique is left saying “Donde esta mi mami?” “Where is my mom?”
In chapter two of the book Enrique’s Journey, Enrique has made a total of seven attempts trying to cross the borders. In the first attempt, la migra caught Enrique and his friend, Jose del Carmen Bustamante, while they were riding the train from Honduras and to Veracruz in Central Mexico. They got sent back to Guatemala on El Bus de Lagrimas, the Bus of Tears. In the second attempt, Enrique traveled alone and got caught by the police. They, once again, put him on the bus and sent him back to Guatemala.
While reading Enrique’s Journey, written by Sonia Nazario, a lot of themes were brought out throughout the book that served different meaning in Enrique’s story. The theme that stood out to me, was his journey because Enrique traveled all the way from Honduras to find his mom, who stayed in the United States. There are times in the book when he falls victim to his own shortcomings: doing drugs, tantalizing his mother, mismanaging his finances. He is ready to take yet another journey, this time marked by responsibility instead of adolescent rebellion and resentment. However, Enrique's journey is not only physical, but also mental as he grows from a boy to a man.
To recap, no one really understood Enrique with his drug problem, so he decides to go to his mother to help him stop his bad habits. This implies that only a mother’s love is the only thing that can help a broken child. The effect of Enrique going to see his mother is that perhaps, he will stop his drug addiction and actually
This biography is mostly about survival and one of the conflicts that Enrique face is person versus nature. According to Nazario, "Enrique was in pain due to the heat of the environment around him, which eventually lead to him to have little energy and with little energy he tries to get some shade" (1). Another conflict that Enrique face was person versus society. According to Nazario, "Due to the decision that Enrique's friends gave him, he lost his friends and was later beaten up by six men on top of the train due to his friends being the only protection he had"
To begin with, Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario shares the journey of a boy named Enrique who lives in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with his mother, Lourdes, and his sister, Belky. Enrique
Whenever Enrique would talk to his mother on the phone she promised him that she would be home by Christmas. He waits by the door, but there are no signs of return. Enrique subsequently comes to the conclusion that his mother will never return, “It’s all one big lie. His anger boils over. He refuses to make his Mother’s Day card at school.”
Julio, on the other hand, lives in highly ethnically diverse Los Angeles as one of the immigrant children devoid of family ties. This immediate environment of family is what Bronfenbrenner calls the microsystem. Luis enjoyed a physical presence and handling of the eleven family members in their home. But for Julio, it was a negative experience when aspect of physical development as she just a mere immigrant without parents around to give her moral support. On a worldwide perspective, both Julio and Luis desire a better world beyond theirs.
Child abandonment is a choice a parent made to not be in their child life. In doing so, this causes a failure to have a strong relationship with their offspring, which can lead to an instability in child's life and the feelings of loneliness and hatred towards their parents. Abandoned children begin to think about doubts and uncertainty in their life. These neglected children are put in pain and misery at such a young age that might hangs how they act as they grow older. Throughout their life all they think about is the self-worth and why their life is set up a certain way.
“Love you, mama, Miss you”(Aviv, 2), the words of three year old Adam to his mother who was placed with the Orange County Social Services. In Rachel Aviv’s article “ Where is your mother” thirty-nine year old, single working parent Niveen Ismail, “begged” them to return her son after she left Adam unsupervised at home whilst she was out. Niveen mentions that on this tragic day that, “It was mechanical- I wasn’t thinking anymore... I was just trying to survive” (Aviv, 6) she was overworked, undernourished and had just reached a “breaking point”.
Lourdes, Enrique’s mother, loved her children as every mother does and did anything in her power to provide for them even if it meant to travel 1,619 miles into a foreign country. Many parents like Lourdes have left their entire families for job opportunities and risk their lives through the dangerous journey but they have the hope and motivation because of love— love for their sons and daughters. Even Enrique found himself doing the same for his soon-to-be-born baby which was one of the components that made him persevere in his
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is the story about a boy in Honduras whose mother left him to pursue a better life in America. This story encompasses the coming of age period of Enrique’s life and many of his experiences can be related to by other children, even in different situations. Nazario develops an interesting novel that both documents the journey of Enrique to the United States but also creates a dramatic tone like a fiction novel would have. Through her diverse use of rhetorical strategies, Nazario was able to explain the positive and negative effects of family relationships through the life of Enrique. She does this by utilizing different literary devices, most evidently, nomos, in which she relates with the story and also opens
As the story comes to a close i can see how this will continue to happen in future events. Enrique wants to believe that his family won’t be too hurt by his decision but he cycle of disappoint will most likely continue in my opinion. He tells mayor Carrasco that he does not think it is worth the time and money for doctors to save travelers like Enrique “This is what they get for doing this journey,” He says of migrants. Yor carrasco disagrees.
As a child, he is burdened with worry for his mother because she is not near him for many formidable years of his life. He is troubled by a perceived lack of love from his father, grandmother, and many members of his family still residing in Honduras. Enrique experiences the pressures of living within a low economic status when Lourdes is unable to send a sufficient amount of money for his livelihood. In later years, Enrique uses drug use as a coping mechanism and cannot release the stronghold that drugs have in his life so much so that he still uses drugs today. Enrique is also plagued with the increasing violence in his area.