El Norte Compare And Contrast Essay

The book Enrique's Journey and the 1983 film El Norte allows us to compare and contrast how each treats the theme of reasons why people choose to migrate, migrants' dreams versus reality. The book and the film makes us rethink transnational lives in the Americas especially how and why they got here and gives us another perspective. In the film, peasants wanted to escape mindless labor and a murderous Guatemalan government leave for America in hopes for a better life. Reasons to immigrate could include better living conditions, jobs, money, healthcare, education and for their family. Both the book and the film shows us reasons why people choose to migrate and what they find out when they arrive to their destination. The book Enrique's Journey

Immigration from Latin America has been happening for decades and the reason seems to always leave the situation people are in for a better one in America. The summaries of the book and the film show how similar they were in how immigration was necessary for the key people talked about.

Enrique’s Journey is a story of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, years after she leaves her family to find work in the United States and send back money because she realized that she could not provide for them. The bad thing is that Enrique does not know why his mother really left him and his sister which causes him to resent his mother’s decision and feels abandoned. Enrique turns to drugs and has low paying jobs to try and get buy. Enrique’s mother Lourdes finds that life in the United States is not what she expected. She finds low-paying jobs, and later becomes pregnant. She gives birth to her daughter and later loses her job, and becomes a prostitute. Later she finds steady work

Also in the beginning, we saw a scene with what appeared to be a male in military clothing asking a young male questions about the whereabouts of someone or others and bribes the young male with money and brings up his family and it seems the young male gives in. Another scene appears to be at dinner and everyone in attendance is talking about the north, or America. They describe how it is better and even the poor have things they do not including toilets, cars and money. The ironic thing is that no one at dinner has been to the place they are describing but they have heard it from others who know someone who does or like the woman who was obviously an expert because she had some old Good Housekeeping magazines she has been reading for 10 years so she can be trusted with knowing what it is like. During dinner the head of the household leaves to go do something and from the film, the wife and the son appear nervous. As the father is leaving the son catches up to him and they talk briefly about why he is going and why it is important. He explains that they, his family and the community and others like them are poor and the rich are abusing them and treat them poorly and take advantage of them. He stated that they are taking advantage of the poor people and their land. He believes that there needs to be change and he is going to be a part of that change, no