At the age of twelve children still have an imagination that is wild. They dream big and still believe in the easter bunny or santa. They think about being astronauts, princesses, and even superheros. In the short story “Volar” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, a young girl of an ethnic origin, who lives in a run-down apartment with her parents, finds a refuge in comic books she buys, and dreams of being a superhero herself. Throughout the story, the young girl struggles deals with cultural related problems many people living in that building don't have to deal with. When many people picture the typical American dream. They automatically envision a family with two kids, a older son and a younger daughter, who live in a nice house with a white picket fence surrounding it. The father is a business man and the mother is a stay-at-home mom. This family enjoys cookouts, hosting parties, and going on vacation every summer. Most people, including the little girl in “Volar”, make this dream a priority and believe that achieving it will make them satisfied.
As a superhero in the little girl’s dreams, she often visits different people who are of interest to her. In her dreams she transforms into a
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She is an immigrant from Puerto Rico who seems to be living in a neighborhood with a lot of other immigrants. Her parents do not make a lot of money, so she is likely not getting a very good education and will probably not go to college. But she's still has a hope of a fantastic future. ¨Step by step I would fill out: my legs would grow long, my arms harden into steel, and my hair would magically go straight and turn a golden color¨ (Cofer). It seems as if she wants the ideal ¨American¨ look. The young girl was to blend into a group or at school, because she doesn't like her dark and more curly hair. This shows that she is struggling with her