La Linea Essay

Words: 2316
Pages: 10
Open Document
Book Review La Linea

By Julia Hager

Summary

In her novel La Linea, Ann Jaramillo tells the story of fifteen-year-old Miguel, who leaves his home in Mexico to illegally cross the US-Mexican border. He leaves for California, where his parents and two of his sisters have lived for the past seven years. His parents left first, in order to make money for their children to cross la linea later. Miguel and his younger sister Elena thus live with their grandmother on a rancho in the small Mexican village San Jacinto. On his fifteenth birthday, Miguel receives the letter he has waited for his entire life. A letter from his father tells him to go see Don Clemente, a rich and successful immigrant smuggler. Don Clemente provides Miguel with …show more content…
By making these decisions, he has to deal with difficult moral questions. His determination to get them across the border makes him forget about loyalty and friendship. Elena would not leave Javier behind at any point, whereas Miguel takes advantage of Javier one day and would leave him behind as soon as he becomes a burden for them. Elena’s behaviour shows characteristic qualities of Mexican collectivist culture. Miguel’s mentality is more goal-oriented and individualist, probably a reason why he felt more at home in America.

In the last paragraph of the book, Miguel realizes that it is not the physical borders that make the difference. He looks at himself in the mirror: “There’s the same old Miguel I was in San Jacinto, just a little taller [...] On the outside, the same me. Inside, it’s different. I thought I’d find the real Miguel, the one I thought I couldn’t be in Mexico, once I crossed la linea. I didn’t understand that there are thousands of lineas to cross in a life.” (118) Even before he left his home, he had already crossed a border in his mind, by making the decision to leave. Before he leaves home, he looks at himself in the mirror: “I hardly recognized me. Somehow, it seemed my outside hadn’t caught up with my inside.” (35)

Recommendation/Evaluation

Ann Jaramillo succeeds in combining an adventurous plot with a sophisticated cultural message. First of all, it is easy to empathize with either Miguel or Elena
Show More

Related Documents: La Linea Essay

Perseverance In The Secret Life Of Bees By Sue Monk Kidd

shows up in every single book we have read this semester. I think that this quality is the key to success in both physical and spiritual life. I learned that perseverance was the key to success through my study of The Secret Life of Bees, Maus, and La Linea. The second book of the year was called The Secret Life of Bees and it was written by Sue Monk Kidd. This is the story of a young girl trying to find the truth about her mother's death and along the way meeting some of the most influential people…

Words 995 - Pages 4

Essay about Regional Airlines

Airlines Planteamiento del Problema Regional Airlines está estableciendo un nuevo sistema telefónico para manejar las reservaciones de vuelos. Durante el periodo de 10:00 A.m. a 11:00 A.m. las llamadas del agente de reservaciones ocurren de forma aleatoria en un promedio de una llamada por cada 3.75 minutos, pasando el agente un promedio de 3 minutos por cliente. La administración de Regional Airlines desea ofrecer un sistema de reservaciones eficiente, como parte de su orientación al…

Words 1893 - Pages 8

Gillette Essay

producto que la hará posicionarse de ser una empresa internacional, con una gestión del negocio adaptada a cada uno de los diferentes mercados locales, a convertirse en una empresa global que consiga tener éxito lanzando un producto estandarizado que apuntale su liderazgo y potencie su imagen de marca. Análisis 4 p´s: * Producto: La maquinilla Sensor de Gillette se enmarcaba dentro del segmento de maquinillas de cuchillas recambiables, estas maquillas junto con las desechables, formaban la categoría…

Words 1141 - Pages 5

Essay on Luggage and Port Everglades

BOARDING PASS Aboard Carnival Freedom Sail Date June 9, 2014 at 4:00PM Stateroom TBA Deck Embarkation 1:30PM - 3:00PM Booking Number 1R9LW4 Running Late? Call 1.877.885.4856 305.406.4779 From Port Everglades Eller Drive Fort Lauderdale,Fl 33316 Guest Transfer Services Cribas, Any VIFP #: 9001600082 - Red Not Purchased Rosales, Janae Not Purchased Smoking Policy: All Spa suites and staterooms, inclusive of the balconies, are an entirely smoke-free environment. Smoking is prohibited in…

Words 798 - Pages 4

Drug Cartel Horrors In The US Teens

Mexico, where villagers gathered to drink beer and shoot the breeze, and told him matter-of-factly that if he didn't pay up, they would make him disappear. The narcotics syndicate owns and extorts virtually every facet of life in the rural town of La Ruana, where Chavez, 47, was threatened with extinction if he didn't hand over $150 each month as a "fee" for the music he played via his cell phone to entertain his regular customers. He had seen others disappear at the hands of the cartel, whose…

Words 1515 - Pages 7

Colombia Geography

as well as the foreign investors. The existence of these legal infrastructures has enabled the government to create an environment that has facilitated the development of the key physical facilities, such as the railway network, highways (such as La Linea), and the 4G facility that will cost $ 75 billion (Henao, 2016). Cultural Communication Colombia has a diverse culture that is comprised of practices from the…

Words 644 - Pages 3

Platayuc Brochure Essay

much that is considered to be the “Green Gold” of our country. Ecuador obtiene su nombre porque está ubicado en la línea equinoccial, o el ecuador, la cual divide a los los dos hemisferios del planeta. Tiene un área continental que incluyen: la cordillera de los Andes, la llanura costera, la amazonía y la región insular de Galápagos, maravilla que fue declarada por la UNESCO Patrimonio de la Humanidad y reserva marina. Nuestro país posee una rica biodiversidad de flora y fauna, por lo que somos considerados…

Words 1905 - Pages 8

Culminating Project for RDG 543 Essay

de costilla bisel. • Las líneas del Grupo del campo y el patio. • Buscar una imagen de fútbol en Google. Insertarlo en una diapositiva en blanco y eliminar el fondo. Ajuste el tamaño del fútbol para que sea 1.5 pulgadas de alto. • Inserte el fútbol sobre el campo. Utilice una animación de entrada que lleva el fútbol en el campo desde fuera de la diapositiva izquierda y ha llegado el fútbol para descansar en la zona de extremo derecho. • Encuentra tres siluetas de líderes de la alegría y llevarlos…

Words 8990 - Pages 36

The History Of Jazz Essay

que acompañaban a los esclavos en el trabajo, las nanas que cantaban a sus hijos, los cánticos espirituales y los blues. The sounds are based on the songs that accompanied the slaves at work, singing lullabies to their children, spiritual songs and blues. A partir del siglo XVIII y XIX la música europea aporta sus estilos y formas específicas como himnos, valses, bailes, teatro y ópera incorporando los elementos teóricos de la música, en especial la armonía, con un vocabulario de acordes y de forma…

Words 2980 - Pages 12

Research Paper On Greenfield Investment

marketplace that is completely untapped and free for the taking. Proyecto Greenfield | | El concepto Greenfield (tierra verde, terreno virgen) se refiere a realizar un proyecto desde cero o cambiar completamente uno existente. La imagen es aquella construcción de la tierra de greenfield, donde no es necesario remodelar o demoler una estructura existente. Eclectic paradigm The eclectic paradigm is a theory in economics and is also known as the OLI-Model or OLI-Framework.[1][2] It is a further…

Words 3777 - Pages 16