Courtesy of The New York Times
Many foreign families see the United States as a place of new beginnings, although not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a hopeful experience after immigrating. The Distance Between Us and the article entitled The Heartache of an Immigrant Family reveal the struggles that people have gone through and continue to go through as immigrants in the United States.
The Heartache of an Immigrant Family tells the story of a boy who was directly affected by immigration. This boy, Luis Enrique Motiño Pineda, lived in Honduras with his sister and mother as a young child. Enrique's mother, Lourdes Pineda, dealt with hardship and poverty by selling food and clothing door to door, although found it barely provided for her family. In hopes of providing her children with a better life, she made the sacrificial decision to make the journey to the United States, leaving her two children behind in Honduras not only separated from her, but each other. After years of living under the care of numerous relatives, Enrique set out to find his mother at the age of sixteen. Just like his mother, Enrique made sacrifices of his own and left people that he loved behind. The journey was not at all easy for him, but he was able to create a life in the United States that included a home for him and his family, who eventually joined him. What Enrique discovered, though, was that the struggle of immigrating would never truly end. He faced even more separation from the ones he loved.
Reyna, Mago, and Carlos in The Distance Between Us had a similar childhood to that of Enrique and his sister. They, too, were left behind by their parents who dreamed of a better life in "El Otro Lado." As The Heartache of an Immigrant Family mentions, migrating to the United States was beneficial because the parents could send some of the wealth they earned to their children back home. However, it was also consequential because the children often felt abandoned and resentful of their parents and would turn to other ways of receiving the love they felt they missed out on. In The Distance Between Us, Reyna would often ask herself question like, "Does she miss me?" (Grande 182) and would have to try to convince herself that, "her parents left her because they loved her too much, not because they didn't love her enough," (Grande 22) even if she didn't always believe it. Most likely, Enrique felt these feelings too, just like all of the other children who were left by their ambitious parents.
Also like Enrique, Reyna and her siblings didn't necessarily have the easiest lifestyle in the United States, despite the fact that it was better than what they came from. For example, Reyna and her family had trouble finding jobs and getting the quality care they needed. They were able to fight through the struggle, though, by taking baby steps toward their final goal: a beautiful, safe life in the United States. Fortunately, Reyna's persistence and driven attitude helped her become the great writer she is today, unlike Enrique, who had a less fortunate outcome.
Compared to the life she was used to back in Iguala, Mexico, Reyna thought of herself as lucky. However, compared to the lives of people who were U.S.-born, her life in the United States was still rather troublesome. Does this mean that immigrants will never have the same opportunities as citizens? The government hasn't been able to sort it all out yet, but will they?
No comments:
Post a Comment