Character Analysis: Enrique's Journey

Enrique’s journey from Honduras to the U.S. unveils the innate loyalty of a loving child to their mother and presents the dangers that a migrant faces on the road with consistent angst; nevertheless, it supports the idea that compassion shown by some strangers can boost the retreating confidence within a person. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” he seeks the beacon of light that all migrants hope to encounter; “El Norte.” Like many children before him, it is the answer to the problems of a hard life. While being hunted down “like animals” leading to “seven futile attempts,” he is

In the Book “Enrique’s Journey”, Enrique has a dilemma of staying in the United States or leaving back to Honduras, what motivates him to stay in the United States is the love his mother has for him and which has not got for a long time, but in the other hand what makes him want to go back is his girlfriend Maria Isabel and his daughter Jasmin which he misses. In the book it reads “When she comes home from work, they sit on the couch, watching her favorite soap opera, with her hand resting on his arm”(Nazario194). In this line from the book you could see the relationship him and his mother have they are bonding and getting to know each other after not seeing each other for so long. Enrique could feel the love his mother is giving him. This

Through meticulous studies and firsthand accounts, she crafts a compelling narrative that follows the perilous adventure of Enrique, a Honduran boy seeking to reunite with his mom in the United States. Nazarios use of dialogue, sensory details, and vivid imagery immerses readers in Enrique's experiences, eliciting empathy and understanding for his situation. In her editorial pieces, Nazario adopts a more concise and persuasive writing style. She distills complex issues into succinct arguments, using rhetorical gadgets including appeals

In the book “Enrique's Journey” Enrique is left behind by his mother, so that she can go to the States to earn money to support her family, this lead to the bases of the story being that Enrique being without his parents is left alone, and being in his fallen state he is drowning himself in his own depression in his fallen state, consequently leading him to vow to travel north to the states in order to reunite with his mother, and at a young age he set out across Mexico on the trains

In the novel Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario demonstrates the onerous journey of illegal immigrants. Sonia Nazario aims for the readers to make them understand what most of the immigrants go through during their journey to the United States. By appealing to ethos and pathos throughout the book, Sonia Nazario portrays the path that Enrique undergoes to reunite with his mother.

Enrique’s journey begins when he is left on the porch all alone without his mother in sight. He is confused and questions “Donde esta mi mami,”(page 1)he is only 5, this confusion leads into rebellion then anger which is what finally pushes him to go on journey to find his mother, does she not love me, he questions, he wanted answers but also missed his mother so much that he does not care or even think about how hard and risky his travel will be.

Enrique challenges,which the undocumented people don’t have same human right.When Enrique was with his four friends in the motel the police came and arrested them all. He says, “At least 5100 of those children ended up in foster care.”(210)This quote shows in the United states on undocumented parent is poor to rest the children. If they are have same human right then they can with the children together. In addition when many migrant who first set out the train with Enrique have been caught and deported. Nazario write, “As Enrique slowly recovers from his beating.”(87) This quote shows that Enrique has been robbed on the train by gangs, and has been physically harmed. Since Enrique is undocumented, the police don’t help him because they will want to send Enrique back to Honduras. Through Enrique,Nazario

Each year, thousands of Central American immigrants embark on a dangerous journey from Mexico to the United States. Many of these migrants include young children searching for their mothers who abandoned them. In Enrique’s Journey, former Los Angeles Times reporter, Sonia Nazario, recounts the compelling story of Enrique, a young Honduran boy desperate to reunite with his mother. Thanks to her thorough reporting, Nazario gives readers a vivid and detailed account of the hardships faced by these migrant children.

He did a lot on his own. Growing up into a teenager he went through many obstacles. Enrique was always switching houses because he was unwanted. His grandmother kicked him out of the house because he started to get home very late every night, and it started to become a bad habit. After living with his grandmother, he then moved with his father. As a baby, Enrique’s father left and never did he think he would ever live with him again. The house his father had was gigantic. Never did Enrique live in such a beautiful home. He stared to get very comfortable staying there. For the first time in a while Enrique finally felt wanted. His father started to go out with his girlfriend almost every night. All the attention was being put to her. Enrique’s father started taking her on movie and dinner dates. Enrique asked if he could tag along, however his father did not allow him. The book says, “Enrique’s father baths, dresses, splashes on cologne, and follows his girlfriend. He plans to move in with her and leave Enrique with Grandmother Maria. Enrique tags along as Luis leaves. He begs his father to let him come along. But Luis refuses . He tells Enrique to go back home” (Nazario 25). Luis has a baby with his girlfriend; Enrique is going to become a fantastic uncle to her. His father and his girlfriend kicked him out of the house unexpectedly. They felt the baby needed all attention possible and all the space. He tells enrique to go back home.

Their mothers promised the children that they would return at once, and for some like Enrique, eleven years passed by without ever seeing his mother once. Seventy-five percent of abandoned children look for their mothers who embark on this dangerous journey to the United States involving bandits, drug cartels, and corrupt cops. Enrique’s mother, Lourdes, leaves January 29, 1989 promising Enrique and his sister Belky that she will be back soon. She starts off on her journey and reaches the United States. For years she works and sends money back to Honduras for her children (Nazario

Throughout the entire book, Enrique, like many other children, is in search for his mother, wondering where she could be, why she left, and if she would ever return. He goes in search of her, thinking that once he finds her all of his problems will go away. In the novel, Sonia Nazario says “Lourdes [Enrique’s mom] angrily swears off Honduras. How could she ever live in such a lawless place? People there are killed like dogs” and “Will she ever meet her mom?”

I can only imagine what immigrating to america is like for these families, everyday children my age and younger are risking their lives to come to America and It really makes me appreciate how much I have. For Lourdes, Enrique, and Maria Isabel in Enrique’s Journey they must make the hard decision of leaving everything they grew up with in Honduras to come to america for a better life. Lourdes, Enrique’s mother, could no longer afford to feed and send her children to school and was struggling to make money with her job. “Lordes can think of only one place that offers hope… Lourdes has decided: She will leave. She will go to the United States, and make money and send it home.” (p.20) Lourdes decides to make the trip because it

I never expected Enrique’s Journey to be such a personal work. Being a journalistic book, I expected a lot of research in it, but not to the level Nazario’s gone to. Definitely, the way she introduced herself into the enduring situations that migrants go through when they try to reach the US gave me a new perspective of what to expect from the book. She comes from a migrant family too, so she can sort of relate to the characters in the book. However, as she confesses herself, her journey was nowhere as arduous as what these children go through to find their mothers. And the way in which she involved herself into the situation increases her empathy for Enrique en other numberless children.

“I want to stay at the oasis,” the boy answered. “I’ve found Fatima and as far as I am concerned, she’s worth more than treasure.” Everyone knows what they want to do, but they are afraid of hurting those around them by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream. Some do not realize that love is something to impel us, not something that will prevent us to go further. Those that genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey. After hearing the Alchemist’s predictions and Fatima saying that he should go, Santiago decided to accompany the Alchemist and pursue his personal legend. Santiago overcame his problem when his father told him he can not travel, and he also perused his personal legend and did not hurt Fatima.

Enrique’s conditions living in poverty as a young child through older adolescence had many negative effects on his family and his own emotional state. His family’s economic situation is what primarily led to Enrique’s mother leaving home to make money in the U.S. and help her family. Having to grow up and be raised by other family members instead of his own biological parents, played a significant part in his development as his dysfunctional and oppressive environment caused detrimental issues with trust in others and lack of love from his parents. Evans, Gonnella, Marcynyszyn, Gentile