Growing Up In Gary Soto's Broken Chain

I think that if you're are older than a teenager then you think that kids lives are always easy. I know in my personal experience my mom tells me that my life is a lot easier than hers because I just had to go to school and do chores but she is the one who had to go to work and cook dinner so my life was never going to be as hard as hers. I actually believe differently and I think that actually growing up isn't as easy as some people think and it's important to know this because most older people think differently but you will know that actually, it's true from this. This is exemplified in the book Broken Chain by Gary Soto by Alfonso's self-esteem, judgment from others, and his position in his home and at school or with his friends. I have …show more content…
It not right to me that people think that kids don’t have any problem and by this, I’m not saying that kids have more problems than adults but I think that adults should accommodate to all the pressure kids already have on them.
First of all, it shows in the story that being a kid isn’t as easy as people think because of Alfonso's self-esteem. This is one of the bigger examples in the book because this not only shows in this book but this also shows in most people’s real life. In the book, it says, “Alfonso sat on the porch trying to push his crooked teeth to where he thought they belonged.” This not only blatantly shows that Alfonso has low self-esteem but the keywords in this quote are “where he thought they belonged”. I think those words are extremely important in this quote because it shows that he has been shown that he isn’t good enough. Whether it was from television, magazines, or kids bullying him at school he thinks that his teeth aren’t in the right place even though they are working just fine. That is why I think that this quote is not only important to my claim but also …show more content…
I already liked this claim because when I made this statement to myself I knew that once you do something bad or embarrassing you will always be thought of as the person who did that. Alfonso is very similar to many other children who experience the same things so obviously, there are examples of that. The first example I have is when the short story states, “Alfonso looked over her shoulder for a long time, trying to muster enough nerve to ask her if she'd like to go bike riding tomorrow.” This quote shows that he doesn't have enough self-esteem to ask her which translates into saying that his friends at school have told him that he could never get that girl so he doesn't have enough nerve to even ask her in the first place. The second piece of information that helps my claim is in the story when it states, “Ernie looked through the hedge, with one eye closed, at the girl. She's not the one who messed with Frostie and me,’ he said finally. ‘You still wanna borrow my bike?” This quote shows that he is the little brother in this family and he still wants someone to look out for him. I see this in my family that even though my brother and sisters make fun of me and play with me all of the time, they would still stand up for me if anyone ever tried to bully or even be