Enrique Journey

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While reading Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario, I noticed the recurring theme of abandonment and how it affected many characters throughout the first two chapters of this novel. Lourdes is the mother of Enrique, Diana, and Becky and she must abandon her children for a better life in America. Lourdes decision was not out of ill-will, but it has left scars on herself and the children she has left behind. The guilt that Lourdes feels justifies that her abandoning her family in Honduras was necessary. Enrique is on the receiving end of Lourdes decision and has to experience abandonment from 2 other family members. I believe that Enrique’s mother, father, and grandmother leaving him is Nazario’s way of showing how this is a toxic practice that only makes the “dysfunctional” family cycle bigger. To me, Lourdes’s smuggler leaving her in L.A. is another form of abandonment, but it has an even deeper meaning. The smuggler’s failure to following through with the original plan, is the exact approach America has been taking pertaining the immigrants today. At first America gives help, but eventually the focus shifts and innocents are left to defend for themselves. I can only relate this to America collecting illegal immigrants and giving them very poor accommodations in the “camps” they are forced in. Regardless of the hurt Enrique feels about his mother leaving for the states, he still risks his safety for the opportunity to meet her. This further shows that even with scars from family, healing could eventually take place. The journey that Enrique takes set me on a roller coaster of emotions as well. The determination of Enrique was unmatched by any other YA protagonist that I have read about in other YA literature text. Doing its intended job, this novel made me realize the struggles that others take in order to have a glimpse of the freedom that some take for granted.

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