During his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump stated, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists…” It’s hard to believe that our current president, the man who has been entrusted to keep us safe and striving, thinks so negatively about a particular racial group. In Helena Maria Viramontes’ short story “The Cariboo Café” she highlights this exact discrimination to immigrant families. This work of literature makes a strong social commentary by using postmodern techniques such as paranoia, black humor, and magical realism to emphasize the hardships many Hispanic families face.
In this short narrative, Viramontes uses three different perspectives to shed light on the …show more content…
The first part of the piece introduces the reader to a Hispanic immigrant family that has just moved in hopes to give their family a better future, but fear of being deported and separated from one another drives them to create rules to avoid just this. For instance, the narrator states, “Rule one: never talk to strangers…Rule two: the police, or “polie” as Sonya’s popi pronounced the word, was La Migra in disguise and thus should always be avoided. Rule three: keep your key with you at all times…” (498). This paragraph shows the family’s fear of being discovered by others and being forced to return to a place where there aren’t many opportunities, which explains why they do not trust others. Additionally, the second part introduces the owner of the Cariboo Café and ultimately demonstrates why many immigrants don’t trust others. To exemplify this the owner states, “I see all these illegals running out of the factory to hide, like roaches
In this short narrative, Viramontes uses three different perspectives to shed light on the …show more content…
The first part of the piece introduces the reader to a Hispanic immigrant family that has just moved in hopes to give their family a better future, but fear of being deported and separated from one another drives them to create rules to avoid just this. For instance, the narrator states, “Rule one: never talk to strangers…Rule two: the police, or “polie” as Sonya’s popi pronounced the word, was La Migra in disguise and thus should always be avoided. Rule three: keep your key with you at all times…” (498). This paragraph shows the family’s fear of being discovered by others and being forced to return to a place where there aren’t many opportunities, which explains why they do not trust others. Additionally, the second part introduces the owner of the Cariboo Café and ultimately demonstrates why many immigrants don’t trust others. To exemplify this the owner states, “I see all these illegals running out of the factory to hide, like roaches