preview

A Better Life Movie Analysis Essay

Satisfactory Essays

Juan Marcos Romero
ENG 108
Armory Kaiser
27 February 2012

A Better Life Movie Analysis

In the movie A Better Life, the Main Character Carlos Galindo is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who started working as a day labor worker when he first arrived in the country, however he has had steady work from Blasco Martinez who owns a gardening business which he tries to convince Carlos to buy from him as he says he is moving. The idea of being self employed is very appealing to Carlos but he knows he can never afford to do so and the risk of getting caught and deported is very high. Carlos has a son Luis who is reluctant to go to school on a daily basis and gets into trouble as he is influenced by his friends who are part of the …show more content…

There are many conflicts throughout the movie such as Luis fighting off the temptation to join the welcoming gang life style which looks to be his answer to finding a place where he belongs and a family that he no longer has. Luis is also trying to avoid becoming like his father in which he does not want to mow lawns and trim trees for a living and continuously fights with his father and has a lack of respect for what he does to earn money. Perhaps that biggest conflict in the movie is both Carlos and Luis against society which appears to be completely against them as they work together to get their stolen truck back but are met with nonstop resistance and obstacles, and in the end leads to Carlos finally getting his truck back but only to find himself getting pulled over by a police officer and getting sent to jail where he waits to get deported. Even with being deported in the end, the last scene shows Carlos getting ready to cross the desert with the guide of a paid human smuggler in an effort to get back to Luis as he promised. Just as they prepare to head into the desert Carlos says "Let's go home" symbolizing that even though his first home was in Mexico he has made a new home in America where his son waits for his return and where he has become a custom to living even with all the challenges he

Get Access