To the Border by Richard Rodriguez. The Saga of the Mexican Transition into the American - Essay Example

His essay, “To the Border,” also deals with the theme of the Mexican immigrants’ anxiety when they crossover from their motherland to the land of promises, America. Human beings, right from the early stages of their evolution, have remained concerned about wealth and they equate wellbeing with money. Therefore, people from underdeveloped countries migrate to wealthier nations in search of employment opportunities. Thus, over the last few centuries, many Mexicans have come to America, the paradise that fulfils everyone’s dreams.

Illustrating the problems that immigrants encounter in the host country, Rodriguez wants to emphasize that this crossover, for every Mexican, is like treading from the familiar to the unfamiliar and it changes them. Rodriguez begins the essay by narrating the anxieties and troubles of an immigrant when he tries to crossover from his country to an alien nation, where he stands to encounter hostilities. His apprehension that “they have X rays and helicopters and searchlights” implies that it is an illegal immigration (Rodriguez 16).

The immigrant has to run, tripping and falling, his heart “lashed like a mare,” and he must enter the country on his “knees” with his “head down” (Rodriguez 400). . Most of the immigrant men from Mexico had come to America as farm workers. In a land where they feel alienated, their solace seems to come in the way of drinking and watching bouts of wrestling or boxing. However, on every Saturday those “men without women,” the “Mexicans without Mexico,” invariably have gone to the Western Union office to send money to their families in Mexico (Rodriguez 401).

Thus, it transpires that no matter how alienated the Mexican men found themselves to be in America, their commitment and dedication to their families have never diminished. The journey into the unfamiliar terrain and the problems they encountered there has not diluted their resoluteness. Another major theme that becomes pronounced in the essay is the transformation people undergo when they migrate into a new country, which the author expresses eloquently through the narration of his mother’s feelings.

Every person cherishes nostalgic memories of his or her homeland no matter how far away he or she lives from that place. The mother feels that Mexico is a poor country but believes that “there are no love songs like the love songs of Mexico” (Rodriguez 402). A change in her is that though she loves Mexican songs, after a few years life in the US she forgets the song that she hums. This alludes to the fact that even though people harbour some nostalgic memories in their hearts, they tend to forget most of their culture in the foreign land.

This can also be evidenced from the statement that “the city will win” because it offers children all those facilities that their village has not (Rodriguez 403). To nail down this theme, the author refers back to the love