Character Analysis: Across A Hundred Mountains

With the current political climate and active efforts by anti-immigration movements, the stories of immigrants-documented or undocumented- are important to share in order to give a clear window into their struggles before coming to the United States. Across a Hundred Mountains effectively humanizes immigrants by revealing the experiences of characters, and exploring reasons for immigrating to the Unites States by utilizing themes (i.e. Death, Poverty, Family) in order to give a voice to children immigrants like the Dreamers. In Across a Hundred Mountains, the readers meet Juana whose troubles begin right as readers start to see life from her perspective. Every written detail of Juana's life serves a purpose, from her bamboo stick shack

The readers see a dedication and a commitment to family in the struggle of Juana's father of wanting to provide a better life for them. This commitment and this struggle is the very definition of "a rock and a hard place," because either Juana's father could continue to be unable to adequately provide for his family by staying or he could leave to El Otro Lado to make better money but be separated from them. This conflicting decision highlights the kind that many immigrants must make when deciding to work in the United States and the choice is often characterized in the novel as one between living or dying. In many ways, that is the sentiment among immigrants and understanding this sentiment carves a path for citizens in the United States to be less biased against immigrants trying to create a better life for their families across the border. In many cases this separation from child and parent adversely affects the child. In a study conducted by the University of Maryland, it was found that the separation and the instability of family would have lasting negative psychological effects on the children (Gindling 2). It was also found that the “disruption of bonds,” between mother and child could “, have profound negative psychological and developmental implications later in life,” (Gindling 3). We see this with both Juana and Adelina who are both obsessed with finding their families again. Adelina who is obsessed enough to push her life to the wayside as noted by Don Ernesto: “, I’ve known you for fourteen years, Adelina. And in all that time I’ve never heard you talk about any young men. You’ve never gone out with anyone, never made friends,” (Grande 156). This is a great example of how the loss of a parental figure or presence in a child’s life could negatively impact