enrique's journey rhetorical analysis

Enrique's Journey

By sonia nazario, enrique's journey quotes and analysis.

"'Dónde está mi mami?' Enrique cries, over and over. 'Where is my mom?'" Enrique to his family, 5

These haunting words, spoken by Enrique when his mother first leaves, touch at the center of the book's themes. No one tells five year old Enrique where his mother has gone, or when she is coming back. Lourdes and Enrique’s long distance relationship consists of telephone calls and short letters. This particular quote resonates throughout the text as Enrique travels from Honduras to the United States in search of his mother, having no idea what she looks like anymore, where she lives, or if he will ever reach her. Implicitly, these words reveal the depth of abandonment, since this sentiment of longing will serve as motivation for Enrique to pass through a terrible ordeal.

"The single mothers who are coming to this country, and the children who follow them, are changing the face of immigration to the United States." The author, xxv

In this quote, the author explains her purpose and inspiration for writing the book. Sonia Nazario wrote Enrique’s Journey to shed new light on the broader issue of immigration in the United States. In order to bring a human face to her investigation, she chose to follow one boy's journey. This approach lets her make an implicit statement to any Latina mothers who are considering immigrating to the United States - in the end, the separation of parent and child might not be worth it. The resentment the children feel toward their mothers never really goes away. Similarly, the guilt the mothers feel for having left their children also persists. Even after mother and child are reunited in the U.S., new issues arise, often resulting in negative consequences. Nazario does not want to write a political book - she wants to put a new "face" on the issue by exploring its personal, individual side.

"This is what they get for doing this journey." Adan Díaz Ruiz to Carlos Carrasco, 47

This quote is spoken in the time period directly after Enrique was savagely beaten and robbed by six men on the train, and reveals one obstacle migrants must face: the resentments of Mexican citizens. The mayor and townspeople of Las Anonas, in Oaxaca, Mexico have gathered to stare at him after his beating. Some are kind and give him money, while others look on in disgust. The mayor of a neighboring town utters this statement, specifically referring to the many injured and dead migrants he has dealt with over the years. Díaz decides to take Enrique to a local hospital not from kindness, but from pragmatism - it is cheaper for the community to treat him than it would be to bury him. Díaz's distaste is disturbing but not uncommon in this part of Mexico. Some Mexicans believe Central Americans have no business being in Mexico at all. They are concerned with their own economic problems, and have little sympathy for the problems brought by others. Their racism blinds them to the plight of the Central American migrant.

"In spite of everything, Enrique has failed again - he will not reach the United States this time, either. He tells himself over and over that he’ll just have to try again." The author, 60

Enrique’s determination to reunite with his mother is an underlying theme of the novel. Here, he is being deported to Guatemala for the last time. He sits on the Bus of Tears, with other migrants who have been caught, and wonders whether the threat is worthwhile. He has already sacrificed so much. Ultimately, though, the many arguments for giving up matter less than his determination to reunite with his mother. If he lacked even a bit of such perseverance, he would surely be deterred as many others are. This sense of determination in the face of such extreme odds is one of the many sides of immigration that Nazario wants to present and explore.

"They really screwed me up." Enrique to himself, 100

Enrique looks into a store window, and sees for the first time his battered reflection. He has been beaten, robbed, and humiliated. The scars on his head and body bear testament to what he has endured on this journey. When he looks into the window, he is ashamed by what he sees, and acknowledges that he is now marked by violence. However, he does not give up, but rather accepts this as another obstacle that he must overcome in order to succeed. His hope and determination are stronger than the troubles, and in confronting his own weakness but persisting nevertheless, he reveals that quality that ultimately facilitates his arrival in the U.S.

"It’s wrong for our government to send people back to Central America. If we don’t want to be stopped from going into the United States, how can we stop Central Americans in our country?" A man from Veracruz to Sonia Nazario, 103

This quotation addresses the larger issue of immigration within the text. As the author states, a number of Americans believe that Central American and Mexican immigrants are taking jobs away from native-born citizens, are over-using government aid, and are bringing crime into the country. Some Mexicans, in turn, feel similarly about the Central Americans in their country. And yet this man's opinion touches on an unsettling hypocrisy that suggests a wider truth. It is within our human nature to want to protect what is ours. Most societies are reluctant to share their resources, and yet we usually recognize a duty to help our fellow man. Whereas an individual might acknowledge a flaw in his society's policy, the society as a whole cannot be so easily led to practice such idealism.

"Can you imagine how far they have come?" The people of Veracruz to the author, 106

Unlike the citizens of many other states in Mexico, the people of Veracruz are known for their unwavering kindness toward migrants. Their priests and bishops encourage them to feed and clothe the migrants. They are reminded that Jesus himself was once a migrant, moving from Israel to Egypt. The migrants, in turn, view Veracruz as a land of hope and faith. Having passed through "the beast" of Chiapas, migrants are welcomed by the hope and kindness of Veracruz. Because this one part of Mexico is willing to show regular charity, many migrants are given the strength to continue that that might otherwise lose. This statement suggests that empathy can exist if we are willing to consider the migrants as individuals and not just faceless parts of a social problem.

"Thank you for returning to your country." American Border Patrol officers to migrants, 137

These words have been heard hundreds of thousands of times by the migrants on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. Enrique hears them as well. Certainly, they are representative of the final great obstacle migrants face - crossing the border into the U.S. However, the horizon in their sight is a symbol of hope, and this implicit warning functions in the same way. Although the Border Patrol agents offer constant reminder of their presence, there is also a tantalizing hope that if a migrant can avoid the Border Patrol, he or she can cross into the promised land and end this journey. They can change their country from Mexico to the U.S. with just a little bit of luck.

"The effect of immigration has been family disintegration. People are leaving behind the most important value: family unity." Oscar Escalada Hernández to author, 248

This sentiment touches on what is arguably the book's primary purpose. Referring to the lasting emotional damage of family separation, Oscar Escalada Hernández, director of the Casa YMCA shelter for immigrant children, suggests that dissolution of the family is the worst effect of immigration. The separation between mother and child creates irreparable emotional damage that impacts not only those involved but also the community in which they interact. Nazario explains how some children grow into restless adults, who are never able to forgive their parent(s) for leaving them. Others, like Enrique, try to overlook the past and move toward a brighter future; however, their lives are often marked by addiction or other coping methods. The true irony is the fact that the mothers originally left their country and children to help keep their family intact. Little did they realize the future ramification of that decision. One of Nazario's purposes is to remind us all of this less palpable risk that migrant parents run.

"We’ll have to leave the baby behind." Enrique to María Isabel, 196

In a sad turn of events, María Isabel decides to leave her daughter, Jasmín, in Honduras while she joins Enrique in the United States. Enrique and María Isabel feel they are giving their daughter the best possible opportunity for the future. Yet, as Nazario insinuates in the Epilogue, this decision suggests that a vicious circle is continuing. Enrique's journey morphed from a trip through Mexico into a trip through himself, an attempt to make peace with his resentment over abandonment. And yet he and María Isabel repeat the same destructive pattern by leaving their daughter, with only hope of reuniting. Belky stands as a counterpoint, someone who actually does return to Honduras to raise her son, while Enrique persists in his hope that his family unit will not be too damaged by separation.

Enrique’s Journey Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Enrique’s Journey is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

WHAT IS ENRIQUE FORCCED TO DO UPON RINALY REACHING THE AMERICAN SIDE OF THE RIO GRANDE

In order to remain undetected, Enrique and the others must wait for an hour in a half in a freezing creek into which a sewage treatment plant dumps refuse.

Why is crossing the river so difficult?

For Enrique, crossing the river by himself is dangerous. He cannot swim and if he's caught, he will be deported.

They are put in detention centers and sent back. The detention centers ar cramped full of crooks and people that exploit them.

Study Guide for Enrique’s Journey

Enrique's Journey study guide contains a biography of Sonia Nazario, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Enrique's Journey
• Enrique's Journey Summary
• Character List

Essays for Enrique’s Journey

Enrique's Journey essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario.

• Criticism, Sympathy, and Encouragement: Depicting the American Dream in 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Enrique's Journey'

Lesson Plan for Enrique’s Journey

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Enrique's Journey
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Enrique's Journey Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Enrique’s Journey

• Introduction
• Don Francisco Presenta Reunion
• Recognition
• Sonia Nazario

Enrique's Journey

39 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-5

Chapter 6-Epilogue

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

“I was struck by the choice mothers face when they leave their children. How do they make such an impossible decision? Among Latinos, where family is all-important, where for women motherhood is valued far above all else, why are droves of mothers leaving their children? What would I do if I were in their shoes?”

Nazario writes her Los Angeles Times series, the basis for Enrique’s Journey , after a conversation with her housekeeper Carmen. Nazario learns that Carmen left four children behind in Guatemala when she immigrated to the United States 12 years earlier. Nazario comes to understand that Carmen’s story is not unique. For many mothers in Central America and Mexico, supporting their children financially means abandoning them. Latinos view motherhood as integral to womanhood, making the decision particularly difficult.

“The letter helped me obtain permission to ride atop the trains of four companies that operate freight trains up the length of Mexico. That way, the conductor would know when I was on board. I would tell them to be on the lookout for my signal. I’d wear a red rain jacket strapped around my waist and wave it if I was in dire danger. I tried to have a source in each region I’d be in, including his or her cell phone number, so I could call for help if I was in trouble.”

Nazario’s approach to researching immigration is multipronged. She interviews migrants, aid groups, and others involved in illegal immigration, and undertakes the journey herself. Her direct experiences riding the trains lend authenticity and immediacy to Enrique’s Journey . This quote describes a letter Nazario obtains from the personal assistant to Mexico’s president asking that the authorities and police cooperate with her reporting. The letter helps keep Nazario safe by alerting conductors of her presence on the trains. It also keeps her out of jail three times.

“The boy does not understand.”

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'Enrique's Journey,' by Sonia Nazario

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Review by Sarah Wildman

• May 7, 2006

We tend to think of the desperate migrants who risk death to make it into the United States as adults. In fact, thousands of children make the journey as well, only instead of seeking work, they come in search of the parents who left them behind.

The Los Angeles Times reporter Sonia Nazario humanizes these wayward children in "Enrique's Journey." This painstakingly researched book is not just the story of Enrique, a teenager from Honduras whom Nazario first wrote about in a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper series from which this book springs. It is also an anthropology of the peripatetic youth bent on braving the obstacles that stand between their home villages and the North American cities where their mothers moved in search of jobs, money and the chance to better their family's lives back home. "Enrique's Journey" explores the unintended, and largely underreported, consequences of those choices.

Desperately poor, Enrique's mother left Honduras when he was 5 years old, planning to send money back from America and promising to return quickly. Years passed. Enrique was tossed between family members' homes; he turned to sniffing glue; the memory of his mother became an obsession. After more than a decade of waiting for her, Enrique set out for the North. But reality didn't live up to his expectations. His mother's absence had created a void her presence could never fill.

Nazario begins, as Enrique did, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Using her extensive interviews with him as her map, she retraces his steps, telling the story as though she had sat beside him on each step of his journey.

It's adventure travel for masochists. "I am not a brave person," Nazario writes at the outset. And yet the risks she took to integrate herself into the world of the migrants who ride atop northbound Central American trains — "el tren de la muerte," the train of death, as one is called — suggest otherwise. Nazario and her fellow passengers fear rape, robbery and death at the hands of gangs, bandits and Mexican immigration authorities. She illustrates the horror by bringing in stories of other migrants she encountered, like Wendy, a 17-year-old raped by five gangsters, and Carlos Roberto Díaz Osorto, also 17, who lost a leg and a foot trying to jump a moving train.

Nazario also pays homage to people who have dedicated their lives to aiding migrants. There is Olga Sánchez Martínez, who cares for those who've lost limbs in train accidents; villagers in Veracruz and Oaxaca who rush the trains with packages of food and clothing; a bishop who raises money to create a migrant shelter.

A remarkable reporter, Nazario has immersed herself completely in this world, giving it depth and texture. In a church soup kitchen, "two big fans spin to a stop, so everyone can hear grace," she writes in a typically vivid description. "In the still air, the room turns hot, nearly suffocating; perspiration trickles down the migrants' faces and soaks their shirts. . . . Spoons of stew touch lips before bottoms hit the seats."

But although Nazario's reporter's instincts have served her well, the book still reads like a newspaper series. Facts, phrases and explanations occasionally echo 10 or 20 pages later, as if she were filling in readers who hadn't seen an earlier segment. The writing tends toward newspaper style: a breathtaking lead paragraph, a quick summation of what's happened so far, a series of statistics. But these stylistic flaws are generally cosmetic, and don't detract from Nazario's main argument. In the tradition of Jacob Riis, the late-19th-century photographer of immigrant life in New York City tenements, Nazario has illuminated the modern immigrant experience; with Enrique, she has given a voice and a face to these migrant children.

Nazario is critical of what she calls America's "schizophrenic" immigration policies, in which enforcement of immigration laws is weak and "labor-intensive industries" like agriculture and construction rely on cheap immigrant labor. Nothing will change, she argues, until we bolster native economies. Parents who migrate without their children and assume they can easily return to claim them are trapped by tightened border security that keeps undocumented workers stuck inside America as much as outside. This, she writes, has contributed to the dissolution of families and the rise of gangs and teen pregnancy. Enrique, like others who were left behind, is deeply resentful of his mother; in America, he continues to struggle with alcohol and substance abuse. He fights constantly with his family. "You think that filling our bellies is the same thing as love," he tells an aunt who left his cousins to work in America. And yet, when Enrique's girlfriend in Honduras gives birth to their daughter, he urges her to leave the child behind and join him in America, repeating the cycle his mother began.

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Look Inside | Teacher’s Guide

Teacher’s Guide

Enrique's Journey

The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother

By Sonia Nazario

Category: latin american world history | biography & memoir.

Jan 02, 2007 | ISBN 9780812971781 | 5-3/16 x 8 --> | ISBN 9780812971781 --> Buy

Jan 02, 2007 | ISBN 9781588366023 | ISBN 9781588366023 --> Buy

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Jan 02, 2007 | ISBN 9780812971781

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About Enrique’s Journey

An astonishing story that puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States, now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview, and more—the definitive edition of a classic of contemporary America   Based on the Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes, one for feature writing and another for feature photography, this page-turner about the power of family is a popular text in classrooms and a touchstone for communities across the country to engage in meaningful discussions about this essential American subject.    Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.”   Praise for Enrique ’s Journey “Magnificent . . . Enrique’s Journey is about love. It’s about family. It’s about home.” — The Washington Post Book World   “[A] searing report from the immigration frontlines . . . as harrowing as it is heartbreaking.” — People (four stars)   “Stunning . . . As an adventure narrative alone, Enrique’s Journey is a worthy read. . . . Nazario’s impressive piece of reporting [turns] the current immigration controversy from a political story into a personal one.” — Entertainment Weekly   “Gripping and harrowing . . . a story begging to be told.” — The Christian Science Monitor   “[A] prodigious feat of reporting . . . [Sonia Nazario is] amazingly thorough and intrepid.” — Newsday

Also by Sonia Nazario

About Sonia Nazario

Sonia Nazario has spent 20 years reporting and writing about social issues, most recently as a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her stories have tackled some of this country’s most intractable problems: hunger, drug addiction, immigration.She has won… More about Sonia Nazario

Product Details

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“A remarkable feat of immersion reporting . . . [Gives] the immigrant . . . flesh and bone, history and voice . . . The kind of story we have told ourselves throughout history, a story we still need to hear.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “Compelling . . . Nazario doesn’t pull any punches.” — Dallas Morning News “A meticulously documented account of an epic journey, one undertaken by thousands of children every year . . . [Nazario] covers both positive and negative effects of immigration, illuminating the problem’s complexity. . . . In telling Enrique’s story [she] bears witness for us all.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Compelling . . . drama, pathos, and [the] hot topic of illegal immigration.” — The San Diego Union-Tribune “Astounding . . . I am unaware of any journalist who has voluntarily placed herself in greater peril to nail down a story than did Nazario.” —Steve Weinberg, former executive director of investigative reporters and editors, The Baltimore Sun   “A story of heartache, brutality, and love deferred that is near mythic in its power.” — Los Angeles Magazine “[ Enrique’s Journey ] personifies one of the greatest migrations in history. . . . Much of the book is a thriller . . . a 12,000-mile journey worthy of an Indiana Jones movie.” — The Orange County Register “Riveting . . . expert reporting . . . Nazario puts a human face upon a major issue. . . . The breadth and depth of [her] research is astounding.” — The Plain Dealer “A heart-racing and heart-rending trip.” — The Daily Nonpareil “A story readers won’t soon forget.” — Tu Ciudad “Gripping . . . astounding . . . viscerally conveys the experience of illegal immigration from Central America . . . [Nazario] has crafted her findings into a story that is at once moving and polemical.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This portrait of poverty and family ties has the potential to reshape American conversations about immigration.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Insightful and beautifully written and sheds a great deal of light on the horrific journeys immigrants risk to find a better life. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal “This is a harrowing odyssey that depicts one young man’s attempts to reunite with his mother and the social and economic issues involved in illegal immigration.” — Booklist “Gripping, heroic and important,  Enrique’s Journey  captures the heart. Most Americans or their forebears came to the United States from other countries. They experienced difficult journeys and wrenching family separations-all in the hope of finding a better life in this new land. Enrique’s story is our story, beautifully told.” —Edward James Olmos

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Enrique's Journey — Analysis Of Enrique’s Journey From A Sociological Perspective

Analysis of Enrique's Journey from a Sociological Perspective

• Categories: American Literature Enrique's Journey Sociological Perspective

About this sample

Words: 2500 |

13 min read

Published: Aug 9, 2021

Words: 2500 | Pages: 5 | 13 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, social problems, sociological theories, possible solutions, cited sources.

• Nazario, Sonia. (2014). “Enrique's Journey: the Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother.” Random House Trade Paperbacks.
• Hardoy, Jorgelina. (2011). “Poverty in Latin America.” JSTOR, International Institute for Environment and Development, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep01278.5.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3Aec5b6118f7feb3f44b7cf2ef5551d40b.
• Aznar, José María. (2013). “Mapping a New Era for Latin America, the United States, and Europe.” JSTOR, Atlantic Council, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/resrep03577.9.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3Aa09bb6f0f2dd136b36e02972ff81a633.
• Brown, Hana E. (2018). “The Racialization of Latino Immigrants in New Destinations: Criminality, Ascription, and Countermobilization.” JSTOR, Russell Sage Foundation, www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.7758/rsf.2018.4.5.06.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3Ab5cefa6f859c9592243ebb9402e74283.
• DONATO, KATHARINE M. (2016). “Twenty-First-Century Globalization and Illegal Migration.” JSTOR, Sage Publications, Inc. in Association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science , www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24756125.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search%2Fcontrol&refreqid=search%3A6138bab167bb4a9a7a7479c008b7f857. 

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Enrique’s Journey

Sonia nazario, everything you need for every book you read., sonia nazario quotes in enrique’s journey.

"I was stuck by the choice mothers face when they leave their children. How do they make such an impossible decision? Among Latinos, where family is all-important, where for women motherhood is valued far above all else, why are droves of mothers leaving their children? What would I do if I were in their shoes?"

"Then I began to retrace his steps, doing the journey exactly as he had done it a few weeks before. I wanted to see and experience things as he had with the hope of describing them more fully."

"Although I often felt exhausted and miserable, I knew I was experiencing only an iota of what migrant children go through...The journey gave me a glimmer of how hard this is for them."

"[Enrique] will remember only one thing that she says to him: 'Don't forget to go to church this afternoon'."

"In their absence, these mothers become larger than life. Although in the United States the women struggle to pay rent and eat, in the imaginations of their children back home they become deliverance itself, the answer to every problem. Finding them becomes the quest for the Holy Grail."

"This had been his first home, the small stucco house where he and Lourdes lived until Lourdes stepped off the front porch and left. His second home was the wooden shack where he and his father lived with his father's mother, until his father found a new wife and left. His third home was the comfortable house where he lived with his uncle Marco."

"When Enrique's mother left, he was a child. Six months ago, the first time he set out to find her, he was still a callow kid. Now he is a veteran of a perilous pilgrimage by children, many of whom come looking for their mothers and travel any way they can."

"In spite of everything, Enrique has failed again--he will not reach the United States this time, either. He tells himself over and over that he'll just have to try again."

"Nearly one in six migrant girls detained by authorities in Texas says she has been sexually assaulted during her journey, according to a 1997 University of Houston study."

"At the rate of nearly one every other day, the Red Cross estimates, U.S.-bound Central American migrants who ride freight trains lose arms, legs, hands, or feet."

"He was five years old when his mother left him. Now he is almost another person. In the window glass, he sees a battered young man, scrawny and disfigured. It angers him, and it steels his determination to push northward."

"Somewhere over there lives his mother. She has become a mystery, too. He was so young when she left that he can barely remember what she looks like: curly hair, eyes like chocolate. Her voice is a distant sound on the phone."

"Outside the church after dinner, many migrants engage in a crude kind of street therapy: Who has endured the worst riding the trains?"

"His mother is a stranger...But he can feel her love."

"Children like Enrique dream of finding their mothers and living happily ever after. For weeks, perhaps months, these children and their mothers cling to romanticized notions of how they should feel toward each other. Then reality intrudes."

"'It's like a miracle,' [Lourdes] says. It is as if all the hurt he felt inside had to come out and now he is ready to move on."

"Maria Isabel does not say goodbye to her daughter. She does not hug her. She gets out of the car and walks briskly into the bus terminal. She does not look back. She never tells her she is going to the United States."