The Central Theme Of Sacrifice And Glow

“Enrique’s Journey” and “Gleam and Glow” both convey the central theme of sacrifice. Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario is an impactful story about a teenager who travels thousands of miles by train to reach his mother, who left him in Honduras to get a life in America where she can support her family. The idea of sacrifice, as seen in the story, also connects with the children’s book Gleam and Glow by Eve Bunting, a story revolving around a family who is forced to leave their home and go on a trip seeking safety. Although the stories share a general value of sacrifice, we also see different motivations for why each story is immigrating. Lourdes is seeking new opportunities to support her children, whereas, in Gleam and Glow, the family is

In Enrique’s Journey, Lourdes is trying to find new opportunities to provide for her children back in Honduras, while in Gleam and Glow, the family is seeking a safe place where they are at less risk of dying. Readers can see Lourdes’ motive at the beginning of Enrique’s Journey when Lourdes leaves her home and becomes a well-paid nanny for a little girl in America. As she takes care of the little girl around Enrique’s age, she thinks, “Do my children cry like this? I’m giving this girl food instead of feeding my own children.” (Nazario 9). Lourdes feels guilt for being around a kid that isn’t hers more than her children, which illustrates her motive of making money for her children back at home, so she can give them opportunities similar to the kid she is taking care of. The main reason for leaving was so she could support Enrique and his siblings. In Gleam and Glow, the family is together for the most part, and the motive is to get somewhere safe. As the family was returning home from their asylum-seeking adventure, the child says to himself, “Mama said we would have to leave soon. It was getting too dangerous to stay much longer. ” (Bunting 2). His internal thoughts help convey the idea that they need to find somewhere safe to stay. Their motive is to find asylum. By comparing Enrique’s Journey to Gleam and Glow, we learn that their motives differ from each other, Lourdes seeks opportunity while the family in Gleam and Glow tried to find a place to stay safe and alive from all the bombs and fires. We can start to get an idea of how it is important to hear from more than one narrative because we become more aware of how experiences can strongly