Common Themes In Enrique's Journey

These themes are common in most of the stories and poems read during this semester. It has enabled me to realize the similarities in many of the books people read everyday and what lessons are learned. These lesson can go from simple to complex. The freedom for some ethnicities in some environments can be hard because they can be easily discriminated against because of their race or their color. The masks people wear are to hide their true feelings, so they become something that people will become more accepting of and not judge them. This, again, goes back to the different races in different environments. They pretend to be a different race, so they won’t be attacked or put down. They are also treated differently because of their race and

In Sonia Nazario’s nonfiction novel Enrique’s Journey she states that “Enrique has made several attempts to leave” and has failed six times(Nazario 50). The journey is tough and has many obstacles. He tried many different routes but all failed. His freedom also requires him to give up his family and friends. His attempts also made him realize the amazingly hard task gaining his freedom is. Julie Otsuka’s historical fiction When the Emperor was Divine she states that “ a man was shot dead by the barbed-wire fence”(Otsuka 101). A soldier thought he was trying to escape the camp. The spectators thought he was reaching for a flower, but the shooter said otherwise. This event shows what the soldiers are willing to do to prevent the Japanese-American’s freedom. The fence also represents the barrier the people have to cross to reach their

In Julie Otsuka’s novel, the mother says, “[i]f anyone asks, you’re Chinese”(75). They act like a different asian race as to not let any speculation arise. They also don’t want to be judged harshly by their neighbors because of the recents events caused by Japan. Many people can also have a feeling that Japanese people are dangerous. The Americans might actually try to kill the Japanese. China is also an ally, which would create an exact opposite response than if the person was Japanese. In J.C. Carlson’s novel The Tyrant’s Daughter Laila says that “my mother pretends that nothing has changed”(2). Her family, mainly her mother, continues to pretend that they are still royalty in a country that they don’t rule. They seem to have been spoiled in their home country when the father was the leader of the country. The mother also called Bastien “little prince” because if they were still controlling their home country, Bastien would be the prince. The mother also spends a lot of money she doesn’t have. She also pretends that she is above the law and believes that she should be considered royalty and not a common