Giomara Castillo
September 8, 2015
1104-D323
Homework
- Life was so hard in America for Danticat’s parents because they came to New York as immigrants, they had to be separated from their two children for 8 years. Being immigrants, they didn’t have many opportunities. They had to work more hours than anyone else for less money to support their two households in two different countries.
- The “Faustian bargain” was an offer given to children, they had to choose between staying with their parents and give away the opportunity to have a better life or to separate from their parents so they could go to America to provide them a better life. I think it was a fair offer because, despite the fact that they had to separate from their parents, they were able to have a better life.
- Uncle Joseph constantly reminded Danticat and his brother to be thankful because not everyone shared the same luck as them, as in the other hand the children viewed America as a fantasy because they weren’t aware of all the struggles that their parents had to go through. Being poor contributed to their respective point of views, they knew that being poor was hard and didn’t have many opportunities.
- The first lesson that Danticat learned about life in New York is that as an immigrant you are expected to work harder for less money with few benefits. I think that this lesson is commonly shared by immigrants, because since they come from other countries without knowing the language and not knowing their rights. I don’t think it was
- .fair, I don’t agree with humans treating other humans bad just because they come from other countries or based on their race and color.
- “It is a burden of each generation to embrace or reject the dreams set out by those who came before.” Children owe their parents the same sacrifices, they should support them when they get old and take care of them just like their parents and provide them a healthy life.
- An immigrant is a person who migrates to another country and does not have many benefits to choosing whereas a transnational is a person with voting privileges and living quarters not just in one country but two. Danticat’s parents ultimately choose to be immigrants because they didn’t have any other choice and they were desperate to provide their children a better life.
- Danticat’s father’s American experience worsened after 9/11 because he feared for terrorism. He feared being blamed for it and becoming a victim of it. I think this treatment of him occurred because New york city is known as the capital of the world and its more propense to suffer from terrorism
- The connection of Uncle Joseph’s death to the beginning of the essay is that violence was not over in Haiti and corruption was still a problem
- I think the past tense is used in the title of the essay because before coming to New York they had a different picture, they thought New York was full of fantasies and dreams, however when they got to New York they realized all the struggles that every immigrant had to go through in order to have a better life.