Sonia Nazario is the author of Enrique’s Journey. Enrique is a migrant from Honduras who embarks on a journey across South America in hopes of a better life for himself. However, he wants to reunite with his mother in America. Enrique’s mother, Lourdes, has made the perilous journey to secure a better future for her children back home (Nazario, 2007). How much worse is the situation in other countries when a woman risks murder, rape, mutilation, starvation, and severe illness to provide a slightly better life for her children. Sonia Nazario’s work demonstrates the problems, raises important social themes, and teaches lessons.
Enrique’s journey illustrates an important theme in today’s world of immigration. The story evokes empathy as readers think about Enrique’s trials. His story is significant because many people oppose immigration or treat it with disdain. Given the road to travel, not to mention survival and the difficulty of finding work in a new state, there is sympathy for all immigrants. Most of the main reasons why people leave their country–and they tend not to be favorable–are shown in this story. This is why people should not despise immigrants; they have the same rights as other sectors of society.
Enrique’s living conditions Living in poverty from his early years to his teenage years took a toll on his family and his emotional state. Enrique’s mother left her home and went to work in the United States to support the family financially. His chaotic and restrictive upbringing led to serious difficulties with trust in others and a lack of affection from his parents, which played a significant role in his growing up as he had to be raised and raised by family members other than his biological parents. Moving from one home to another showed that he never experienced stability, contributing to his drug use and comfortable behavior. A man who grew up rebellious can become disillusioned and disgusted with the inconstancy associated with constant moves. One of Enrique’s main problems is the city’s low economic and social status, where the vast majority live in extreme poverty. Enrique was affected by the violence and drug use in the neighborhood because he had easy access to drugs, which contributed to his use.
Enrique faced several challenges and threats to his life throughout his attempts to cross Central America and enter the United States, with famine, a lack of food, money, housing, and hostility from local Mexicans. Enrique found that most Mexicans he saw were not particularly friendly to migrants passing through their nation on their way to the United States. Mexicans appear to be more preoccupied with their economic issues and show minor sensitivity to those caused by others. They were oblivious to the suffering and despair of the refugees because of their hatred for immigrants such as Enrique.
Enrique’s resilience and tenacity in the face of such overwhelming challenges are testaments to the fortitude he has acquired over the years due to dealing with hardships as a small boy and his intense desire to be reunited with his mother. Some protective factors included Enrique and some other migrants receiving assistance from those at a small campsite, which gave them the will to go on their trip in search of a more wealthy life. Even though many aspects of his community have negatively impacted him, it is clear that he still can change to build a better future for himself and his family.
The entire history of humanity can, without much stretch, be viewed in terms of the continuous migration of tribes and peoples. In some epochs, migration was not very significant, but in others, it was the most important factor in the development of civilization. On the one hand, migration has always resulted from the external expansion of mature social systems with a stable structure and established social ties and complex relations. On the other hand, the chaotic evolution of nomadic tribes and nations, whose social structures and political systems were still in their infancy, often led to migration. With the development of more perfect political forms, the importance of migration flows of this type gradually diminished. Even if they brought some traditions, Settlers or invaders lost contact with their former homeland and, as a rule, were assimilated by the indigenous population.
In today’s world, the reason for immigration may be poverty, crime problems, and economic and political problems in the state. All of these problems are perfectly illustrated in Sonia Nazario’s work. More and more people are leaving their homes, hoping to find a better place to live abroad. Increasing mobility on a global scale allows more and more people to travel to distant countries and continents. The most favorite countries to immigrate to are prosperous countries with high living standards. However, no country can cope with an arbitrary, uncontrolled influx of foreigners. Most states protect the interests of the local population with strict immigration laws.
Nevertheless, most countries recognize an obligation to provide protection and asylum to persecuted people. This book’s author wants to convey this process’s moral dimension. The problem of attitudes toward migration can be seen in interregional and interethnic relations and as an independent indicator of socioeconomic tension directly linked to the perception of the generalized other, revealing attitudes toward social hierarchy and mobility. The perception of the stranger, a person from the outside, allows us to reconstruct a certain community’s perceptions about itself, its qualities, origins, and prospects for further development, to mark the points of greatest conflict and uncertainty in relations.
Social justice is the most important feature of an idealized social order in such representations. The acute sense of its absence, expressed in the sharp stratification of society and the poverty of the majority of the population, activates feelings of resentment and irritation. Success for most people is associated with illegitimacy and injustice. Whoever achieves success, or at least strives for it, is perceived as an illegitimate competitor. A sense of inferiority suggests a simple solution to many: to protect scarce resources that could improve their well-being, it is necessary to reduce the circle of those with the right to claim these resources. Commitment to civic identity is more characteristic of educated respondents. This commitment is most clearly demonstrated by those who, by the nature of their work, interact with a large number of people or are involved in modern interaction models. Commitment to ethnic identity is pronounced among those employed in unskilled labor; however, this group has the highest proportion of those who do not conceptualize the situation in such terms.
Works such as Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother are noteworthy because they cover a very important and relevant topic. People need to pay immediate attention to the issue of immigration. Instead of condemning people who have left their homes, the action should be prevented. States must create equal living conditions for all and minimize crime and poverty. It will take decades to achieve this goal, but if people pay attention to it soon, many problems can be avoided.
Immigration creates problems such as overcrowding and unequal treatment of residents and immigrants. Sonia Nazario’s work shows the life of an immigrant from the inside, revealing all the problems a young man faces. People who read this story will be able to fully immerse themselves in the experiences and feelings of the main character. In this way, the author will be able to reach out to that part of the population that condemns immigration and continues to treat this cell of society with prejudice.
Many are convinced that all immigrants are criminals or drug addicts who have fled their country to escape punishment. It is important to remember that people do not always immigrate because of legal problems. Most people are fleeing an undignified life; they want to make a good living.
Thus, the U.S. immigration system and the improvements that need to be made to it in terms of social, political, economic, and injustice have received increased attention thanks to Enrique’s Journey. Unfortunately, the government continues to try to reduce immigration, although it is wrong to say whether this is good or bad. For several decades, various strategies have been used and discussed to reduce the number of immigrants coming to the United States. For example, there have been strict processes at border controls between Mexico and the U.S., several barriers and fences have been erected, and many cameras have been installed. As a result, it is virtually impossible to cross the border undetected, and one of the measures to reduce the number of persons seeking to immigrate without proper documents has been strengthening border security.
Reference
Nazario, S. (2007). Enrique’s journey: The story of a boy’s dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother. Random House Trade Paperbacks.