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Analysis Of The Distance Between Us By Reyna Grande

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In Reyna Grande’s compelling memoir, The Distance Between Us, she vividly recounts her life and journey from Mexico to the ‘El Otro Lado,’ the United States. Grande grew up in Iguala, Guerroro, a small town in the heart of Mexico. She and her family were brought up in extreme poverty and thus, her parents left for the United States in order to support them. Grande and her siblings were forced to live with their stern, disapproving grandmother and often faced difficulties because of their abusive and impoverished environment. Abandoned by both parent, the three siblings endure various hardships with the hope of a window of opportunity opening for their family. Even through trial, hardship, and pain, selfless individuals will exhibit their abiding …show more content…

Originally, she gets a job at the train station in order to pay for her additional school uniform, but when Betty gets hurt, she works to pay for her medication and states she doesn’t want “her little sister getting any scars on her face” (116). When Betty first entered their household, Mago did not like her at all because she symbolized the reason why her family could never be together. Betty was born in the United States and is an American citizen. Her birth also means that Mago’s beloved parents would never need to leave ‘El Otro Lado.’ In contrast, when Betty bawling when their mother left again, Mago “was the one who picked her up and held her” even though she had a “dislike for [her]” (93). At that moment, Mago empathized with Betty because it was official that all four were betrayed and abandoned by their parents. Mago endeavors in order to support her family. She surpasses what a sister in a traditional, healthy family would do for their …show more content…

Their family’s dysfunctionality is often highlighted by the weight illegal immigration carries and how burdened they children feel in regards to their family. Mago provides the unconditional love and support Reyna needed in order to grow up to be as successful as her is now. When Grande’s father comes to Mexico, he originally plans to only bring back Mago, but she sternly declares that she “won’t go… if [he doesn’t] take Reyna” (149). Mago was more than prepared to spend the rest of life in Mexico instead of America if it meant that Reyna would be by her

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