El Norte Essay - Grade: A PDF

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reflection of the movie El Norte...

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Running head: FAITH INTEGRATION ESSAY

Faith Integration: Reflective Essay Chloe Nakamoto Spanish 102 Professor Hauff March 13, 2019

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Chapter One In chapter one, we are introduced to the characters and the time period that the movie is taking place. The movie takes place in a small Guatemalan village, where indigenous Mayans live. The dad, Arturo, and his fellow villagers have a dream is to move north to the United States. When coming together for this, they were attacked and killed by government troops. Before the dad left, he told Enrique, “to the rich, the peasant is just a pair of strong arms.” Enrique, the son, follows the dad, fights off a trooper, and finds multiple men dead, including his dad’s severed head. Enrique and his sister, Rosa, escapes the attackers and hide out in their godmother’s after they discovered that their mother disappeared. Enrique talks to a man who has been up north and asks for advice about his trip up and people to talk to. Enrique and Rosa get money from their godmother and flee Guatemala to head north to the United States. (Nava, 1983). Chapter Two In chapter two, the siblings hop on a bus and go through Mexico, where these two try to pass off as indigenous Mexicans by constantly cursing. They meet a Mexican coyote to guide them across the border, but he ends up trying to rob them. Enrique and Rosa get caught by the US border patrol and get sent back to Mexico. They meet a man who was a former coyote and agreed to help them cross. Enrique and Rosa then travel miles and miles through a dark and eerie sewage pipe. During their travels through the sewage pipe, Rosa and Enrique are attacked by a large group of rats. When they finally make it through and avoid border patrol, their coyote is there to help them. (Nava, 1983). Chapter Three

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Once Rosa and Enrique made it to America, they find a place to work and live, but quickly realize the difficulties of living in the U.S. without legal documentation. Rosa finds a job, but there is an immigration raid, so she escapes with a friend and works as a housekeeper. Enrique works as a busboy, where his boss likes him. Enrique and Rosa take English classes to improve their communication skills. He gets promoted to a waiter’s assistant, but a coworker gets jealous of him and calls immigration services. Enrique is offered a job to move by himself to Chicago to work in a factory and receive his green card, but he declines because he doesn’t want to leave Rosa. Once Enrique flees his job because immigrations services came to look for him, he ends up agreeing to the position he was offered. Rosa becomes ill from being attacked by rats and Enrique has to make the decision to fly to Chicago to leave Rosa, or stay by her side. He ends up seeing her at the hospital where she dies peacefully. Enrique goes back to finding work with his “strong arms” and is distracted by daydreams about desires for a better life. (Nava, 1983). Analysis Historical This movie did not only deliver a powerful message to its viewers, but it also reflected the political climate of Guatemala at the time. In Guatemala in the 1980’s, there was a Civil war going on in this country due to the inequalities existing in not only the political, but also social and economic life, which originated in the 60’s. In the 1970’s, the Mayan people starting participating in protests against the Guatemalan government. They fought for equality and greater inclusion of the Mayan culture. In 1982, a mass murder was conducted against the indigenous Mayans due to the fat that the military believed they were hiding rebels. During this time period, hundreds of thousands of Mayans were murdered or “disappeared.” (Holocaust

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Museum Houston, 2017). This was shown in the movie when Enrique and Rosa’s mother and other village members were taken away. The social aspect of this time period involved the indigenous Mayans fleeing from their country to try to get away from the oppression of the government. Most Mayans tried moving up north to America, which was reflected in the movie. Families were “disappearing” or other Mayans were being killed off in the genocide. Insurgents were especially targeted by the government due to their rebellious ways. Due to the killing off of so many people in one culture, many traditions and knowledge of that culture could not be passed down properly. Enrique and Rosa illustrated this aspect clearly in the movie. Their mother went missing and the army murdered their rebellious father. Enrique and Rosa escaped to move to America, which is what a lot of indigenous Mayans tried to do. When fleeing to America, they were forced to change their culture and conform to other norms around them in order to fit in. From an economic standpoint, the indigenous Mayan people were the poorest people in Guatemala at the time of the war. People were killed off, work was diminished, and income was scarce. Many Mayans were famers and lost not only the livestock on their land, but the land itself. Families lost everything and were forced into poverty. This was also evident in the movie because Enrique and Rosa’s godmother willingly gave up her lifesavings in order to support their trip up north, leaving her with no money. Families sacrificed everything for a chance at a better life and still do today. Biblical/Faith-based In the film, Enrique and Rosa are forced to hold onto the hope that everything will turn out okay for them in the end. Enrique and Rosa had faith in God that they would make it to the United States safely and make a better life for the both of them. I found this relevant to

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Colossians 3:13-14 that states, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (BibleGateway). Despite all of the oppression and hatred that Enrique and Rosa faced, they still had a positive attitude throughout their journey. The love in their hearts was evident and it was a reminder to me that the enemy is there to throw curveballs at you and try to take you down, but as long as you have God’s love continually shining in your heart, God will give you the ability to show compassion to those who might not even deserve it. Current relevance In Guatemala in the 1980’s, there was a civil war going on and many of the indigenous Mayans were trying to flee the oppression and move north towards the United States. This is relevant to problems the world sees today because there are illegal and legal immigrants coming into America right now due to oppression in their country. These immigrants not only face racism and prejudice in their country, but also in the country they are fleeing to. This reminded me that there are problems in this world that people don’t want to address because it is uncomfortable to talk about. Coming from a half Mexican household, I am familiar with this topic because some people in my family immigrated to America from Mexico. They obtained their green cards and citizenship, making them legal. I also have Native American blood in me and that gives me perspective and a different attitude towards land being unfairly colonized. I do I believe that we do need borders and boundaries, but I also believe that we need to help our neighbors and show grace and mercy to those who need it most. In my opinion, if you’re family immigrated here to colonize and exploit another family’s land and resources, then you need to reassess the preconceived notions you have about immigration.

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BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Colossians 3:13-14&version=NIV Holocaust Museum Houston. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.hmh.org/la_genocide_guatemala.shtml Nava, G. (Writer), & Nava, G. (Director). (1983). El Norte[Video file].

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