Enrique's Journey

Enrique is a boy like many others in his home town of Honduras. His mother left when he was only five years old, seeking a better job and a better life for her family in America. Despite the fact that Lourdes promises to come back in one year, she never does. When Enrique gets older, he decides that he is going to leave his home and travel illegally to America in search of his mother. Even though he knows his journey will be dangerous, he is determined to find his mother no matter how long it takes. He is deported, robbed, beaten, and starved several times but he never lets up his resolve and eventually his strong will pays off, because he finally reunites with his mother.

Enrique's situation could be compared to countless others around the world. One very similar comparison is children that were given up for adoption when they were babies trying to find their birth parents. Although they may not have to go through all of the physical hardships that Enrique does, their mental and emotional journey is nearly identical. Another similar situation is a person's journey to find themselves. Again, they may not go through much physical turmoil, but it is a huge emotional and mental journey that every person on this earth must take during their lifetime. 

This photo represents the majority of Enrique's journey. His biggest obstacle was getting past the bandits and migrant officers and reuniting with his mother in America.

This is page 192 in Enrique's Journey, and it is the part when Enrique and his mother are finally reunited. It represents the conclusion of the story and how Enrique defeated and overcame his obstacle.





From the beginning of the book, you can tell that Enrique has a strong will and he is willing to do whatever it takes to find his mother. He leaves his family and friends, risks his life, and puts himself to the side to accomplish this goal. His unrelenting efforts finally pay off, however, when he finds his mother. Once he gets to America, smuggler's and Lourdes's boyfriend take Enrique to white-door mobile home with five faded redwood steps. Enrique and his mother talk and hug and catch up on each other's lives over the past ten years. 

To overcome the obstacles he faced, Enrique had to go through some of the most traumatizing things he will probably ever have to experience.He accepted the fact that his journey was not going to be easy; and it wasn't. He knew what he was getting into and he knew he was going to get deported and robbed and injured, but none of that mattered to him. All he cared about was finding his mother, and when he did, I can only assume it was the happiest moment of his life.

To be a survivor, one must never give up. Life isn't easy. Reaching goals isn't easy. Nothing easy is ever worth doing. Life is about the challenge, the unexpected, the unknown. If everything was easy and nobody ever tried for anything difficult, this world would be an extremely dull place. Sometimes we have to make hard decisions and deal with rejection, loss, etc., but that doesn't mean we throw our hands up and say "I quit". Enrique could have given up plenty of times. After being deported he could have accepted his defeat and gone back to Honduras. But he didn't, because of his determination. To be a survivor, you have to have determination. Without it, we'd never get anything done. The human race's strong will, determination, and philosophy to never give up is one of the most important things in the world. We have to believe, accept, and practice that, and we will all be survivors. 

Sources:

Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario