Author Chuck Palahniuk has said, “The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than the people born here.” While this statement may bare truth for some, many other immigrants face difficulties when identifying his or her culture. Within the novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, by author Cristina Henriquez, several of the story’s narrators prove to be evident of this clash of cultures and loss of identity. Specifically, Mayor Toro, a teenager raised in America, with immigrant parents from Panama. Because of his parents’ native background, Mayor suffers an identity crisis, to which he fails to see himself as either an American or a Panamanian. Therefore, throughout the novel, Mayor must overcome his lost sense of self, and discover where he truly belongs in the world. And with Maribel Rivera as his guide, Mayor Toro journeys to seek self-discovery.
In the beginning of the novel, if Mayor was placed on a scale, with the left side labeled …show more content…
For some immigrants, such as Bharati Mukherjee, “America spoke to me—I married it—I embraced the demotion from expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody, surrendering those thousand years of ‘pure culture’…she [Mira Mukherjee] retained them all” (Mukherjee, 292), come to America and indulge in every aspect, fully immerse themselves in the “American experience.” While others, like Bharati’s sister, Mira, come to America and withhold the culture. They stick to what they know, to what they were born and raised with, both selections are perfectly acceptable. But each option results in a different lifestyle; no choice better than the other, but each are drastically different. The Mukherjee sisters depict two possible ways immigrants can transition into living in America. For the Toro family, it is obvious they followed Bharati’s and Palahniuk’s way, as they do not object to the American
In the beginning of the novel, if Mayor was placed on a scale, with the left side labeled …show more content…
For some immigrants, such as Bharati Mukherjee, “America spoke to me—I married it—I embraced the demotion from expatriate aristocrat to immigrant nobody, surrendering those thousand years of ‘pure culture’…she [Mira Mukherjee] retained them all” (Mukherjee, 292), come to America and indulge in every aspect, fully immerse themselves in the “American experience.” While others, like Bharati’s sister, Mira, come to America and withhold the culture. They stick to what they know, to what they were born and raised with, both selections are perfectly acceptable. But each option results in a different lifestyle; no choice better than the other, but each are drastically different. The Mukherjee sisters depict two possible ways immigrants can transition into living in America. For the Toro family, it is obvious they followed Bharati’s and Palahniuk’s way, as they do not object to the American