The Distance Between Us, By Reyna Grande

One cannot choose the family they are born into and can abandon it, but the household in which a child is raised still impacts the course of their existence. Depending on a family’s stability, its influence can be positive or negative. This concept of family and its influence is explored in Reyna Grande’s memoir, The Distance Between Us, which is split into two books. The first book focuses on Reyna’s upbringing in Mexico, separated from her parents who moved to the U.S. for financial mobility. During her time in Mexico, Reyna copes with being abandoned while living in poverty. She experiences physical abuse by family and relatives and has a difficult upbringing. In book one of Grande’s memoir, The Distance Between Us, Reyna Grande illustrates how dysfunctional family dynamics harm a child’s mental state, a theme

When placed in a stressful situation, Natalio’s instinct is to respond with violence and aggression. This can be linked to his past, as he likely experienced abuse by his mother, grandmother Evila – if she abused her grandchildren, what would have stopped her from abusing her son? Substantially, if an individual develops abusive tendencies due to their past, their future children are not the only ones at risk. As Duke research professor Jennifer Lansford states in her article “Abused Children Are Twice As Likely to Have Negative Adult Outcomes”, the individual can become physically abusive with their partner; “Children who have been abused are at increased risk [of] perpetuating cycles of abuse by victimizing intimate partners and their own children” (Lansford 2). Once an individual becomes a victim of abuse, they are likely to continue this cycle of suffering – even extending to non-family members. This finding asserts the impact of child abuse and the way it feeds a generational cycle of domestic violence, which can also be observed in the actions of Grande’s