As Richard grows, he develops a love of learning, more specifically of reading as much and as often as possible, and he begins to seek refuge in books and the dream of one day becoming a writer. As Villarreal puts it, “The world of Richard Rubio was becoming too much for him . . . [so] he lost himself in dreams or spent hours reading everything he could find” (102). Inevitably, he begins to withdraw from his family, losing interest in their traditions and cultural expectations of him:
“’Mamá, do you know what happens to me when I read? . . . I travel, Mamá. I travel all over the world, … for the Mexican people are right when they say that life is only a breath. I do not know that I will find time to make a family, for the important thing is