Determination In Enrique's Journey

“In spite of everything, Enrique has failed again--he will not reach the United States this time, either. He tells himself over and over that he’ll just have to try again” (Nazario, 2006, p60). I chose this quote because it shows Enrique’s determination to reunite with his mother. This quote is spoken by the author, Nazario. This quote is inspiring to anyone who reads it. Enrique’s determination to reunite with his mother is an underlying theme of the novel. Here, he is being deported to Guatemala for the last time. He sits on the Bus of Tears, with other migrants who have also been caught by the Immigration officers. He is wondering whether the threat of dying and getting abused is worthwhile. He has already sacrificed so much. Finally, the many arguments for surrendering matter not as much as his determination to rejoin with his mother. If he lacked even a bit of such determination, he would surely be discouraged as many others are. This sense of determination in the face of such extreme odds is one of the many sides of immigration that Nazario explores in the novel. …show more content…
Enrique watched his mother, Lourdes, leave him and his sister, Belky at the age of 5. He does not know when she will return or if she will return at all. Lourdes is heading to the United States in search of work so that she can send money home to her two children, Enrique and Belky. Her experience in America was not easy as she hoped it would be; she becomes pregnant and works many different jobs to support herself and her newborn daughter, Diana. She wires money back home, but feels guilty and sad at the thought that her children are growing up without