Essay On The Circuit And Breaking Through By Francisco Jimenez

The experience of the American Dream, is beautifully captured in the novels’ The Circuit and Breaking Through, by Francisco Jimenez. The author’s own story is told through the character of Francisco, a boy that goes through life’s obstacles as an immigrant. The first book, The Circuit focuses on Francisco’s early childhood as he, along with his family travel from Mexico into the U.S border in hopes of a better life. Impoverished by poverty in Mexico, Francisco, as a child, struggles to find the balance in California, as migrant workers. He is caught between the pressure of helping his family financially by working in the fields and going to school and receiving an education; something his parents did not (1997). The second book in the series Breaking Through, focuses on the struggles as a teen, to obtain a higher education. His family still having financial struggles, after his dad loses his new share of crop, becomes depressed and it is up to the Francisco and Roberto to pick up financially, even if it means falling apart in school(2001). In the end, Roberto, succeeds to get enough money together to

The purpose of his body of work is to expose the problems that children of migrating experience that affect their daily life and most importantly the long term effects that it has on the child. Through looking at the perspective of Francisco, as a child, we see that he not only has external struggles, coming from his deteriorating environment, but also internal battles within himself, that lead him to have identity issues. Furthermore, Jimenez allows the reader to see the effects that child labor has, especially on children working alongside their parents in the fields. Children although are not legally allowed to work in the United States, still feel the inconsistencies that moving around, following the work has on