Summary Of The Enigma Of Arrival

The theme of this book is that the human capacity to adapt to and find happiness in the most difficult circumstances. Each character in the novel shows this in their way. For instance, their family is randomly taken from their home and forced to

Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.

Oftentimes, in the public, people have to be “normal” to be successful and accepted. Author William Saroyan believes that society steers people to be conformed and fit in, but he wants people to be able to be diverse. In the short story “Gaston,” Saroyan shows that carving a unique path can turn out to be erroneous. Through symbolism and contrast, Saroyan conveys the theme that society does not always accept people’s differences.

The author uses a seemingly endless cycle of poverty to emphasize the cage in which the characters are trapped. As Lizabeth muses over her childhood, she recalls the daily cycle of how “each morning our mother and father trudged wearily down the dirt road and around the bend, she to her domestic job, he to his daily unsuccessful quest for work.” (1). Every morning began the same way, passed the same way, and ended the same way. Lizabeth feels trapped, forced to go through the same series of events for what seems to be the rest of her life, with the same people, in the same place. When the author pairs this with the “dusty” setting of the town and the time placement of the Great Depression, it creates an effect of hopelessness for the first part of the story. This is only furthered by Lizabeth continually returning to the idea that “Poverty was the cage in which we were all trapped.” (1). Lizabeth opens the story by first giving a description of her hometown as “dusty”, remembering the poverty and hopelessness. She then continues by referring to the cage of not having enough money, and the cycle that it put them through, and ends by alluding to her future being limited to her poverty.

The novel begins and centers around Salie, the narrator of the story and her football fanatic brother Madicke. Salie is struggling in France whilst her brother still in Niodior, Senegal, dreams of coming to France and becoming the next African football star in Europe by paying a fortune to be smuggled in illegally. Salie does not want to crush her brother's dreams, but she knows that coming to France is not the solution and understands how hard it is to convince him, especially when she “seems” to be doing well there from his point of view. ‘Salie was an outsider on the little Senegalese island of Niodior because she was illegitimate. She left to marry, got divorced, and now feels that she belongs nowhere’. Home is neither France nor Senegal for her. The novel recounts the fates of various immigrants who have tried to make it abroad with high hopes and dreams only to be crushed. For example, Moussa, the promising football player with lots of potential who is scouted and brought over to France only to have his dreams come crashing down when he is not qualified to join the team. ‘In leaving Niodior he had triumphed, but he will never return having conquered France and cannot let his family know he has failed’. ‘Salie knows that her brother Madicke may succeed as a footballer, but he will always be used by the colonial country. She sees this clearly in the French’s

Along in with the author’s use of metaphors is the frequent use of imagery. In this reading, it is simple to envision the scenes as the different scenarios are explained and the audience can easily picture Staples in the places he is describing and also the people he comes across. Perhaps the most powerful and memorable imagery is provided in the author’s description of people’s different reactions and faces when they come into contact with him. Actions speak volumes and an immediate change of facial expression is possibly one of the

Author, Pablo Medina, in his reflective memoir, “Arrival: 1960” illustrates his transition from Cuba to New York as a young boy. Medina describes how his first impressions differed from what he thought he would encounter. He faced new challenges, involving his race, that never occurred back in Cuba. By reflecting on this experience in a first person point of view, Medina depicts the disappointment that he and other immigrants face while adapting to their new world.

Throughout history we have seen many people leaving their old lives behind for the new opportunities in America but are let down by the harshness of our culture. In the story, Arrival: 1960 by Pablo Medina, we learn about a young Cuban family who make a big move to the United States, more specifically New York City. The main character begins the story high spirited and excited for their new home for it would be packed with new experiences. As the story continues he begins to see the reality within the city and at his school. He discovers that his new environment is not at all what he expected and on top of that he is faced with a culture that is abstract to his previous beliefs of identification. His high expectations were greatly reduced to the shocking experiences he went through in this forbidding environment.

This encounter that he describes is an important aspect of his book, in that it represents an encounter with another person struggling through the same pain, and same tourture that he is experiencing. This can be looked at as a simile towards the conditions in the country of Argentina.

Both Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies and Pretty Modern acknowledge the term class, and the established social hierarchy and physical sufferings that comes from it, in many cultures. According to Schultz and Lavenda, class is defined as “a ranked group within a hierarchically stratified society whose membership is defined primarily in terms of wealth, occupation, or other economic criteria” (312). Ultimately, my goal is to demonstrate that while both ethnographies explore class, they do it in equally important, but different ways. Seth Holmes’ Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies is an account of the Triqui people and other Mexican migrant’s sufferings in U.S. farm labor camps. Alexander Edmonds’ Pretty Modern is an account of the booming plastic surgery market in Brazil, and the risks women take in order to modify themselves. Class is a rather fixed concept; it’s not easy to move between classes in most societies. While both ethnographies tell the tale of people trying to attain more wealth and a better occupation, the former does it in a way where class is perceived to be immovable, while the latter seems to heavily rely on the notion that you can climb the social ladder.

Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” are two thought provoking works that speculate the future of human societies. Both authors portray their stories in very different but also similar ways that can also connect to society today as a whole. We do experience similar pains in our society. However, we do not or may not pay attention to it. Societies’ rules exist to balance conflicting human interests and keep order. Nonetheless, it should not cradle ones potential to grow and become more productive members of society.

Through the process of social construction, various social statuses, such as race, class, and gender, are given a deeper meaning than simply a category. In turn, these statuses begin having an effect on the groups they encompass, causing some groups to become dominate over others and shaping the hierarchy of their society. Once established, these statuses begin to intertwine and influence one another, along with space and time, which is called intersections. These intersections work together to further shape our experiences and hierarchies within every society. The intersections between these spheres are further broken down into multiple types, and each type of intersection relates these spheres together in a different way. Intersections can be infrastructures, mystifications, or constructions of hierarchy. All societies around the world are constructed from these effects and intersections from the spheres, and this can be seen easily in the film “Daughter from Danang.” In the film, Heidi Bub, born in Vietnam, was brought to the United States during “Operation Babylift” as an infant at the end of The Vietnam War. The film focuses on the differences between Heidi’s life and the life she would have lived if she was raised in Danang. Growing up in a different place with different people meant Heidi had been exposed to diverse lifestyles and social spheres, which, through intersections, led to a much different construction of what she knows as home and family.

Growing up, people realize that around the time of reaching a mature state, education has affected their personal family life in one way or the other. With that being said, in his essay, “The Achievement of Desire”, Richard Rodriguez headed towards a path where he was unconsciously distancing himself from his family and becoming much more independent than he had expected. Rodriguez gives the reader a sentimental idea of the two contrary lives he had growing up, the life he had as a child, and the life he has as an educated man. He continued believing in his aspiration of how benefits of education can remarkably outweigh the past struggles of both his family and himself. Like Rodriguez, I also, in the past, found some form of solitude

They have their ups and downs, struggling to define who they are, in an often cruel society (Davis, 2009). The two main themes found within the documentary focus on strife in their current lives, and the potential for a better future, both of which relate to our class

Man is a product of the culture in which he is born and brought up. For the same reason, no one can negate the influence of the society in forming one’s personality. I am well aware of the fact that my views, thoughts, and attitude have been shaped by the society I live in; hence, any attempt to sketch my personal experiences would be incomplete without referring to the part played by my surroundings. Throughout my life, I have paid utmost importance to initiating and maintaining interpersonal relationships with others. I had to face varied situations out there, both joyous and depressing. However, each instance was a great lesson for me to learn several things about my practical life – I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that I have learned more outside the four walls of my classroom than within them. My autobiography is closely associated with my social connections including my experiences with my family, educational institution, and the larger society I reside within.