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Ariel Hernandez Research Paper

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Author Jennine Capó Crucet, known as Lizet in her novel, and Ariel Hernandez, whose real name is Elián González, both arrived to Miami on the same day: “Thanksgiving 1999” (p. 6). Ariel arrived on a broken raft with the help of some fisherman, and Lizet flew in from New York only a few hours later. Even though their stories seem completely different, they were both trying to make a home among strangers. They both faced family, cultural, and political issues, but Ariel’s story was broadcast for everyone to see. Maybe Crucet included Ariel Hernandez in her story because his story intertwined with hers, which caused many difficulties for her, but he may never know who she is. Ariel and his mother set out for Florida on a raft with “nine other people” (Oppmann). However, their raft broke, and everyone but Ariel drowned. …show more content…

unassisted---he’d been picked up at sea and brought in---so the wet foot/dry foot element, which already seemed like a tricky way to distinguish which Cubans got sent back and which got to stay and eventually apply for political asylum, was more complicated than my mom wanted to admit. Plus, Ariel Hernandez wasn’t just a minor; he was a little kid. (p. 52) In the end, Lizet was correct. “Ariel’s father had emerged from wherever he’d been the first few weeks Ariel was in the United States and was now demanding that his son be sent back” (p. 106). Also, “Fidel Castro led massive protests on the island demanding [Ariel’s] return” (Oppmann). There was a “boiling feud between supporters and opponents of Castro’s revolution,” and Ariel’s relatives in Miami thought that “he would become a brainwashed trophy for Castro in his long-running feud with the U.S.” (Oppmann). Lizet would also argue with her classmates about how hard it is to survive in Cuba, even though she had never been there. The protests became so heated that eventually, armed federal agents took Ariel away, and he was forced to live under his father’s

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