Poverty and Displacement: Migrant Families - Essay Example

1. Acuna felt that going to town was a bad thing for him because of the harassment from the people in the big shops. The s as well as the shop owners indulged in mocking the migrant labourers who were in dire straits. The poor migrants were very afraid of facing their tormenters in town. So they opted for small stores despite the outrageous clipping meted out to them there. Acuna conceived the act of going to town as a necessary evil he was powerless to avoid. For him it was part of daily life. Had he been in a socially acceptable situation he would have looked forward to it as an opportunity to while away time in enjoyable human company. Under the given circumstances, it is torment for him as he finds it very difficult to take in the very idea of people in apparently advantageous situation laughing at their ill-fated counterparts. It seemed quite unfair and illogical to the naive little boy who had very fine sensibilities. Social acceptability was the major element that determined the manner in which a particular person was treated by others. In the perception of Acuna, the migrants were not acceptable as they were hardly clean. They lived out side the town keeping to the dirt roads and dust. They were compelled by their situation to remain aloof thus. Their poverty and displacement took away their sense of self-esteem and they knew they were being treated like implements. 2. The growers kept the migrant families apart because they wanted the families to fight against each other for jobs. By taking advantage of the desperate situation of the poor workers, the grower community tried to extract the maximum from each. One another tactic they resorted to was the practice of assigning the best crops to the fastest workers in the hope of generating professional rivalry among them, which would invariably result in enhanced quality of work. Acuna was very naive and ignorant of the mysterious ways of the world. Therefore, he did not realize the hideous aspect of the acts of his employers who deliberately attempted segregation among the families of the migrant community. 3. The social acceptance that came with the job is what prompted Acuna to take up the position of foreman. Besides the monetary benefits, his eagerness to make his parents proud of him counted significant in this move. 4. Acuna joined the Marines at the age of seventeen. It was immediately after he had his disillusionment as a foreman. He quit the job because the company refused to hike his wages though they increased the pay of those below him. His desire to become a first class citizen by acquiring positions of prestige together with his eagerness to make his parents proud on account of his achievements in life prompted him to take up assignment with the Marine Corps. It was his assumption at this time that the job would guarantee the coveted social acceptance for him and ensure a decent existence both for him and for his poor parents. He assumed that it was power and position that determined one’s worth. Towards the end of the story, he finds liberation from such assumption in the realization that it is the quality of a man as an individual that counts ultimately. As a conscientious individual he finds his true place among his fellow men struggling for survival in the fields of a foreign land enduring severe oppression and torments. He comes to the realization that it is in serving humanity that nobility remains not in assuming powers in a system of oppression. He comes to this state of thinking after his chance meeting with Caesar Chavez. Acuna, who already had a sensitive mind, felt a change coming over him in declaring solidarity with his folk. He realized that his illiterate, poor, fellowmen needed him as their spokesperson. He changed course to fall in with them. 5. Acuna became a prison guard not on his choice. It was assigned to him at the Marine Corps. His posting was as a correctional officer in a state prison. Acuna, who was very proud of his uniform felt embittered by the type of work he was expected to do. He was supposed to torment the prisoners by way of correcting them. Most of the prisoners were Chicanos or blacks. So it was intended to be pure harassment. The government was happily using a migrant to oppress the other under privileged people. They were going by the principle of effecting the best form of oppression by implementing it through one of the oppressed. Conscience- stricken, he leaves the Corps. 6. When Acuna refused to use torture method as part of his Marine Corps as a correctional officer, the authorities as well as his own colleagues began mocking and harassing him. He realized that they wanted a mean man out him. He could not digest the wickedness in their motive. He quit the job not because of fear of their power over him but he wanted to be true to his conscience. This experience was like an eye-opener for him. He began to see things from a different perspective, realizing once for all that there existed double standards in the society. There was no justice offered to the working class community, mainly consisting of helpless migrants, the Chicanos. The growers had an intricate watering system to irrigate their crops but they did not provide running water in the houses of their workers. Veterinarians tended the sick domestic animals, but the workers were denied even preliminary medical aid. No unemployment compensation for workers while there were huge subsidies for growers. Generally, the workers were given status below animals. They were treated like implements. This ironical situation is what Acuna refers to when he says, “everything was so wrong”. 7. When Acuna first read Caesar Chavez he was still preoccupied with the idea of becoming a “first class patriotic citizen”. By the term “first class patriotic citizen”, Acuna means one who is high in social hierarchy, one who wields power and authority, one who has a lot of privileges. He saw a high rank in society as a covetable achievement due to the pride one could experience when others show recognition, respect and acquiescence towards him. When he read Chavez, the ideas dealt with in there did not seem to have any relevance in Acuna’s life. He was aspiring to become someone much above his compatriots. He did not see himself as one among them. But his perceptions changed when he met Chavez in person and heard him speak. He realized that his own true sympathies lay with his folk, not with the tyrannous authorities. He realized that a first class patriot is not someone who carries out all the orders, however unjust and brutal they are, to oppress the masses, but someone who acts according to the acoustics of one’s conscience. 8. Acuna began his life as a migrant farm worker toiling in the fields of a foreign land from four o’ clock in the morning till nearly eight o’ clock in the night. He began his own share of this inhuman labour at the tender age of eight. Having endured the mockery Anglo kids in school for his dirty appearance, late coming to school, and even the common lunch he ate, Acuna developed the idea that social acceptance is what matters the most in life. According to his naive perception of life, it appeared that he would be able to reach positions of power either through hard work or through education. First, he tried his hand at gaining good education despite having to work in the fields. In those days, during peak harvest period, children were forcibly kept out of school to participate in the harvest. The school authorities also encouraged these practices. In spite of these impediments, Acuna strove hard to learn and become an outstanding student. But he was denied recognition despite his hard work and true merits. Very soon, he had to quit school to become a full-time laborer. These bitter experiences shaped his attitude. He was convinced that power was inevitable to earn him dignity in life. But once he acquired it, his perception altered. He valued an individual’s innate sensibilites more than the amount of power he held. He became a better individual. The social class we belong to really does matter much in determining what we are and what we become. But Acuna’s story proves that it is possible for an individual of good bringing up and fine sensibility to break the barrier of his/her background to assert his/her true self. Acuna walks out of the filed at the age of thirty-two with the strong conviction that it is his bounden duty to change the Californian feudal system by organizing the farm workers. He began working towards ensuring basic justice to all citizens, all human beings, irrespective of the nature of their work, their status in society. Read More