Racism in Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1288 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/02/05 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Racism Essay Did you like this example? The novel, Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea, encompasses numerous themes. Said themes range from the idealization of the United States to the characters’ new experiences facing discrimination in the United States. The setting of the novel takes place right after the terrorist attack on 9/11, which in turn, instilled a fear and animosity in people in the states, especially Whites, towards any brown individual, but especially to those of Middle Eastern or Persian descent. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Racism in Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea" essay for you Create order Two of the characters, Nayeli and Tacho, are able to pass as Pakistani, which means that they are the ones to receive the most discrimination. The concepts of immigration and racism are prevalent during this time period in the United States and the 9/11 terrorist attack influenced a negative general idea of non-white immigrants within the country. First and foremost, political parties in the United States have taken advantage of the generalized fear of non-white immigrants and decided to include the topic of border security in their slogans and campaigns. This political generalization of brown individuals led to hostility and violence towards them, and even the non-brown children followed in their parent’s footsteps. However, this type of treatment is not the image the U.S. portrays when immigrants learn about the U.S. Specifically, the characters Nayeli, Tacho, Vampi, and Yolo are fed the liberal notion of the opportunities the U.S. offers. This liberal and safe image of the U.S. was projected through the movies and novels the characters would watch and read about, believing the false tale of successful opportunities for everyone. Once the characters arrive in the United States, their perspective is changed through their new experience. They come to realize the lack of opportunity and the discrimination brown ind ividuals encounter every day. Like many individuals, the notion of racism is viewed as dramatic and not harmful, and should just be something to laugh at. Unfortunately, when Nayeli experiences this first hand, she realizes that racism has a deep effect on the individual and their family. As Nayeli, Tacho, Vampi, and Yolo were on their way, they were all met with this conflicting issue of their Aunt Irma’s campaign. In which Aunt Irma was showing the same hostility towards Central American immigrants as the U.S. was of Mexican immigrants. She even specified that the Central American immigrants are receiving a pass on free education in Mexico, and that is the view most Americans have on immigrants. The notion that immigrants take up that country’s resources of welfare, education or healthcare influences the way citizens view the immigrants. When the country has ceased to see people as human beings, the people of that country lack their ability to empathize with one. In the instance of the U.S., it does not help that students are taught the manipulated version of the country and are not taught all the damage the U.S. military and/or government implemented in these countries. From the railroads to the banana production in Central America, which left the Central American workers with IOU’S instead of wages, barren plantations, and the lack of chance that a small farmer would be able to produce his or her livestock once again. When big corporations are competing with small land farmers, the farmers and the country are left to pick up the pieces, and some are not fixable. Many historians link poverty in these Latin American countries as a result of U.S. corporation infiltrations. Furthermore, the way the media produces the image of the U.S gives false hope to immigrants, such as Nayeli, Tacho, Vampi, and Yolo. In the border patrol scene when Nayeli states why she is here in the U.S., the border patrolman did not believe her. Nayeli recognized this instantly and was hurt that someone would think she was trying to be manipulative. It was only until the border patrolman saw Tacho and Nayeli on the bus that would take them to Kankakee, Illinois that made him believe them. As a result of witnessing the bus scenario, the border patrolman had a change in attitude and decided that seeing brown immigrants or tourists as humans, would have a better outcome rather than policing them. Through the racism Nayeli and Tacho encounter, their uncle’s story had a major impact on how they perceived life in the U.S. They find out that their uncle crossed the border in hopes of opportunity, since he grew up hearing that the U.S. was full of it. He spent his time idealizing the other side and telling his family that was going to have a better life there, but when he finally got there, he was not met with opportunity. He was met with hostility and was forced to look for the opportunities instead. And they never came. But fulfilling the macho role, no matter how horrible life in the U.S. was, he was never going to tell his family that it was not what it was supposed to be. Life in the states had grown unbearable to the point where he wound up idealizing life in Mexico. While reading the novel, I noticed that the characters came to realize that even if one is successful in crossing over, it does not mean they will be successful financially or be able to make a home there. Not succeeding in these, disappoint Nayeli and frustrates her that she was fooled into believing the films, novels, and even the â€Å"success† stories from family members. She and Tacho eventually notice that even though one may be inhabiting a land, they are prohibited from having their voice heard. Because there is no representation in politics, they are at most times, left feeling unwelcomed and cannot integrate well into society. One scenario that vividly represents this is when Chava introduces Angel, an undocumented migrant and farm worker from Mexico, to Tacho and Nayeli. They both witness the poverty lifestyle the undocumented migrant workers are left in and quickly come to the notion of â€Å"crossing the border is not enough to make you part of the community.† The wages the undocumented migrant receives is barely enough to maintain themselves and are left to live in makeshift camps along expressways. This forced nomadic behavior does not allow one to feel that they are part of the land or community. The ostracizing of undocumented immigrants by their bosses does not stop there. The Mexican and/or Latino community that have legal documents treat them the same way. And Nayeli and Tacho encounter this behavior when they were on their road trip to Illinois. They encountered a Mexican couple’s restaurant who was friendly in the beginning, but later on in their conversation, when the couple learned that Tacho and Nayeli are undocumented, they kicked them out. In this instance, the couple claimed that undocumented immigrants like them, give a bad name to the ones that go through the legal process. The legal process the couple is referring to, confirms the idea that one is not of value in the community unless a legal document says so. All in all, this novel encompasses stories with reality, love, and disarray, and incorporates the topic of immigration from Mexico of Central Americans and the United States on Mexican immigrants. Borders, racism, fear of overpopulation, and of the unknown continue to fuel this heated debate of immigration and who is worth being let in. The value of a person is to be determined in a court that was made for the white man to succeed, and to keep the marginalized, marginalized. Even when a migrant receives a legal document, they are not guaranteed an opportunity to succeed, nor are they guaranteed safety.

The September 11, 2001 Attack On The United States

The September 11, 2001 attack on the United States will forever be remembered as one of the darkest days we faced as a nation. Almost 3000 lives were taken that day by a terrorist group using four commercial planes as weapons. Two of those planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, the third into the Pentagon and the fourth falling short of the White House landing in a field in Pennsylvania. The imagery of that heinous act still lingers among many including myself. I can recall exactly where I was and what I was doing. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..This horrific misfortune on our country has forever changed our lives and the way we travel. In the days following the 9-11 tragedy, the level of fear and uncertainty crippled our nation and its†¦show more content†¦People were terrified of flying and thus, the number of passengers flown started to decline. Rather than taking vacations, the vast majority of people were taking â€Å"staycation†. It took the airline industry about â€Å"three years to start recovering from this terrible disaster† (IATA). The government always had resources and efforts focused at counterterrorism but it was never a top priority until the 9-11 attack. Government. The public did not feel safe and blamed the government for letting this catastrophe come to our home front. Our government was under a lot of pressure and felt something need to be done quickly. On November 19, 2002 President George W. Bush passed the Homeland Security Act (HSA). †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. This act was created to â€Å"prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the United states to terrorism, and minimize damage and assist in recovery for terrorist attacks that occur in the United States†(†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦). This HSA drastically restructured our government agencies in an effort to heighten national security and laid the foundation establishing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This was the most drastic change of government agencies since the National Security Act of 1947. There were some shifting around of agencies and their roles after the reorganization. For example, the Coast guard use to fall under the Department of Transportation and after the HSA was passed,

Macbeth Literary Analysis Free Essays

The Soliloquies of Macbeth Many times in a play, a character, usually alone on stage and pretending that the audience is not there, thinks out loud. This type of action is called a soliloquy: â€Å"An instance of talking to or conserving with oneself or of uttering one’s thoughts aloud without addressing any person† (Oxford English Dictionary). A remarkable author, William Shakespeare, uses the soliloquy technique in his famous playwright, The Tragedy of Macbeth. We will write a custom essay sample on Macbeth Literary Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this tragedy, many of Shakespeare’s soliloquies target around Macbeth, revealing important aspects about himself. The first soliloquy expresses Macbeth’s conscience, â€Å"indecision, and his fierce inner conflict† (Richard 383). He is dealing with the internal conflict of â€Å"pity and horror at killing the virtuous Duncan† (Jorgensen 8:90). In this soliloquy, Shakespeare defines Macbeth’s agonizing imagination: â€Å"Besides, this Duncan/ Hath born his faculties so meek, hath been/ So clear in his great office, that his virtues/ will plead like angels trumpet-tongued against/ The deep damnation of his taking-off;/ And pity, like a naked newborn babe,/ Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubin horsed/ Upon the slightest couriers of the air,/ Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,/ That tears shall drown the wind† (Shakespeare I:7:16-25). This best describes Macbeth as being directed into conflicts by prophesies of the three witches. Macbeth is a grief-stricken man with a wounded heart that is bleeding for someone else. The second soliloquy is found in the beginning of Act II, where Macbeth is seen alone with a â€Å"dagger† in his hand. Macbeth is giving into evil and the â€Å"terror in his soul and his inability to recover his lost innocence† (Richard 383) is revealed. He lets the illusion of the dagger affect him greatly by talking about satanic images of witchcraft. Shakespeare verbalizes the evil spirits as he goes on to write: â€Å"†¦witchcraft celebrates/ Pale Hecate’s offerings, and withered murder,/ Alarmed by his sentinel, the wolf,/ Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,/ With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design/ Moves like a ghost† (Shakespeare: II:2:51-56). Mabillard sums up the quoted soliloquy by documenting: â€Å"Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and a strong presence in Macbeth, is preparing her acrificial victims, and Murder himself, called by his trustful watchman, the wolf, moves with the power and speed of evil king Tarquin near his prey† (Mabillard). The witchery turns Macbeth into an evil murderer. Lastly, there is another one of Shakespeare’s soliloquies that describes Macbeth. Jorgensen explains what is happening pertaining to this soliloquy: â€Å"Macbeth becomes king. But the ‘settled’ is deeply ironic, for he will be more driven in re stless ecstasy to seek final security† (Jorgensen 8:91). This meditative kind of speech can be found in the beginning of Act III, where Macbeth specifies his own great loss: â€Å"For Banquo’s issue have I filed any mind;/ For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered;/ Put rancors in the vessel of my own peace/ Only for them, and mine eternal jewel/ Given to the common enemy of man,/ To make them kings, the seeds of Banquo kings! † (Shakespeare III:1:65-70). The killings lead Macbeth into â€Å"being accommodated to his murderous career† (Richard 383). Richard Sime also states that: â€Å"This suffering Macbeth is experiencing describes the person Macbeth has become† (Richard 383). At this point, the evil in Macbeth has definitely outweighed the good. Without Shakespeare’s choice of technique, the audience will not fully understand what Macbeth does to become who he is. The reader can see how Macbeth’s character changes throughout the period of time by seeing and hearing the feelings revealed by the use of soliloquies. Therefore, in Macbeth, â€Å"the inner spiritual catastrophe parallels the outer physical catastrophe† (Richard 383). How to cite Macbeth Literary Analysis, Papers