Irene Bloemraad Negocios Character Analysis

For decades, Immigrants traveled to the United States for various personal motivations. These Immigrants voyaged with aspirations of finding a better quality of life; others are refugees, fleeing from civil turmoil. In “Negocios,” Ramon- an immigrant from the Dominican Republic- moved to Miami with dreams of fortune and the vision of bringing his family to the states. Ramon quickly became subject to adversity, having all of his dreams crushed before his eyes, he needed to find a new way to survive in America’s concrete jungles. Through Ramon’s struggles and hardships, “Negocios” exemplifies the ideas of Irene Bloemraad’s second-class citizenship through the means of how he traveled to New York primarily on foot, how he was fired from his job shortly after his injury, and how his past continues to haunt him and not allow him to fully assimilate. …show more content…
Ramon was one of the many dreamers who came to the States ready to succeed. “He dreamed instead of gold coins, like the ones that had been salvaged from the many wrecks about our island, staked high as sugar cane”(Diaz 169). To Ramon’s dismay, his dreams faced reality. Ramon worked long hours and shared an apartment with three other immigrants but when faced with adversities, he left Miami on a bus to Virginia, then walked to New Jersey by foot.“Second-class citizenship,” as defined by Bloemraad, is contingent on various racial factors and as observed through the text, the hardships Ramon experienced proves the ideology of citizens being equal does not match their actual experiences( Bloemraad 67). Although Ramon experienced great deals of defeat and countless nights of struggling, his life would soon change