Migrant Workers In Francisco Jimenez's The Circuit

542 Words3 Pages

In the short story “ The Circuit” by Francisco Jimenez, the lifestyle of a migrant worker is portrayed as discouraging. Migrant workers have to move often. After a long day of picking strawberries, Panchito returns home to find that “Everything [he] owned was neatly packed in cardboard boxes.” he “suddenly felt even more the weight of hours, days, weeks, and months of work.” (1) Moving often is discouraging because everything that you have built at your current location is taken away. The author explains that Panchito “feels that weight” of all of the time he spent working. He is reflecting on all of the time that was spent working, instead of doing the things that kids usually do. Migrant workers have to work hard in the heat. After working all …show more content…

Roberto and [Panchito] came out from hiding and joined Papa.” (3) Not being able to go to school is discouraging. Seeing all of the other kids get off the bus while you are stuck working can’t feel good. The fact that Panchito describes in detail what the boys are wearing and what they are carrying seems to imply that he really wants to go to school. Migrant workers have to live in bad conditions. Jimenez describes the new house that Panchito and his family move to with an abundance of details. He writes “The garage was worn out by the years. It had no windows. The walls, eaten by termites, strained to support the roof full of holes. The dirt floor, populated by earthworms, looked like a gray road map.” (2) Living in bad conditions is, without a doubt, discouraging. Imagine living in these conditions for months. Coming home to this after hours of hard labor in the heat would probably make you wonder why you were even working so hard if all you come home to is this. As can be seen, the life of a migrant worker is discouraging. They have to live in horrible conditions, the children can't go to school, they have to work hard in the heat, and they have to move very