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My Mother Essay

Decent Essays

It is January 29th, 1989. Enrique’s mother has spent the money she’s been saving up to get a smuggler to bring her to the United States. The last thing Enrique sees from his mother is her stepping off of the porch and walking away, for she cannot face him. Although, Enrique is confused by this, “‘Dónde está mi mami?’ Enrique cries, over and over. ‘Where is my mom?’” (5). As the years go by, Enrique goes from house to house, turned down by his relatives. He blames his mother for the way his life has turned out. As much as he is hurt by his mother for leaving him, the desperation he needs for her love never ceases to exist. As he cries “over and over” for his mother, she never returns. The abandonment from all the people close to him serves …show more content…

He knows deep down that he’ll be with her once more and he never lets go of that hope. When Enrique tells himself that “he’ll just have to try again” after failing multiple times, he is truly getting stronger and smarter as he gains new knowledge to finally cross the border successfully. This passage connects with me once more as I, too, feel discouraged from failing, as many people do. Although, when I feel so strongly about reaching a certain goal, I let my failures teach me rather than break me. I build off of them so that I can learn that wounds heal physically, but emotionally they can stick around until you find the hope and strength within you to diminish them. This is exactly what Enrique is experiencing. Through the beating and the multiple deportations he receives, he heals, but the hope he feels to reach the United States heals his wounds as he struggles onward. The larger theme is, of course, hope. The hope Enrique has led his small accomplishments to arise. The hope in himself, and his mother, and the hope other migrants send to him are all factors in how he does not give up. He refuses to give up. In conclusion, Enrique’s Journey is a book that revolves around the idea of hope and how abandonment can always make someone stronger as they will fix the wounds that loved ones left them. The many aspects of how Enrique grew and matured as an individual in truly remarkable since every

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