This quote shows how much he appreciated his wife and how much she meant to him. They made a family, they give each other powers to do what they want and need to, they support each other. (Mickey Bui)

“The children were very upset. They were both in high school at that time. Isabel and i were so proud of them. They wanted to go to college. My son wants to become a nurse and my daughter wants to become a nurse.”(Page 88/89, Gustavo Milhojas“) This quote as plain as it is has meaning in the story. Firstly, it adds depth in to Gustavos character. Second, we see gustavo looking ahead to the future of his children while being in the mucky waters of sadness recalling the death of his wife. All family thought in this passage. Shows the true colors of Gustavo.(Dennys Duran)

“Usually in Pátzcuaro someone-either my mother or else on of my friends- stopped by in the morning. I would make café con leche and we would talk, sometimes for only a few minutes, sometimes for hours. And even on the days when no one came over, through the open windows of our house I could hear the noise of our neighbors… Here, it was as if I was sealed into a noiseless box, and even when i opened a window, all i could hear was the rhythmic whisper of cars driving on the nearby road.” (pg33). This passage describes the things you have to give up to achieve your dreams. Sometimes, this means you have to let go of some or all of our family. (Jeremiah Brook)

“In Spanish, Dulce said, “ My son lives here with his wife. They brought me here.”

This shows that family will always stick together. No matter their age. Dulce’s son is helping her out. ((PG 60)Jeffery)

Arturo propped himself up on his elbow and hissed, “You don’t think I have a right to treat her differently now than i would have before the accident? You don’t think we have the responsibility to do that? Shes not the same person, Alma. There’s not some piece of her just sitting there, waiting for us to find it again”. ( Pg.221) This passage show the complexity of the family part into the coming in of the American Dream. In this situation, the family has trouble in they came to america to help Maribel, and theyre having trouble that she can possibly return to her past self. (Dennys Duran)

““Leave it alone Celia.”

“He deserves to know, doesn’t he?”

“Know what?” I asked”

“Go to your room,” my dad said.”

“What did I do?””

No matter how much a family will fight, they’ll always come back to each other and stay together. Family will always forgive family. (pg 204)

“Finding is for the things that are lost. You don’t need to find me, Mayor” 

This quote shows how care and love Maribel gives to Mayor, they will be there to help each other stand up when one of them fall and be there to support each other. They do things like how family support to do to anyone, that to be there for them. 

This passage connects to happiness because it’s the first day of school for Maribel. Her parents are happy that she can get an education do what makes her happy. They came to the United States so their kids had a better education and a better life than in Panama.

Rafael Toro

“Maybe they wouldn’t have done so well in Panama. Maybe they wouldn’t have had the same opportunities. So that makes coming her worth it. We’re citizens, and if someone asks me where my home is, I say los Estados Unidos. I say it proudly.” (23). 

This connects to the concept Happiness because they are proud that they have come to the United States and that they have more opportunities than they would have had in Panama. If they hadn’t come to the United States they could be living in a place that doesn’t make them feel happy. 

Page 90: “I am very grateful for these jobs. They allow me to send money to my children to pay for their schooling. When both of them graduate, I would like to go back to Mexico to be with them. My wish is that they’ll do something worthwhile with their lives, something more important than sweeping popcorn. I have done what I can for them. I would like to see them give something back.” 

This passage connects to the concept of happiness because Gustavo is happy that his job is able to pay for his kids to attend school and get a good education. 

“My son is in college now and my daughter will start college next year at university veracruzana in orizaba. this makes me happy.” (Pg. 89)

It connects to the concept happiness because it makes him happy because he knows that his kids will get to do what they want

Last three:

“Then ‘Feliz Navidad’ came on the radio. ‘This goddamn song again!’ my dad said. ‘Oh, come on!’ my mom said. She started singing along and swishing her hips while my dad eyed her skeptically. ‘What?’ she said. ‘You don’t want to dance with me? Fine. Benny, ven.’ And Benny took my mom by the hand, spinning her around. Ynez and José joined in, José leaning on his walker while he rocked back and forth, and Micho pulled Nelia up off the couch into a twirl.Almost everyone in the room started singing along and eventually my dad put his drink down and cut in on Benny and my mom, sliding his arm around her waist. ‘Now this is more like it!’ my dad yelled above the noise. ‘This is the Christmases I knew!’” (Pg. 141) This is an example of our concept because everyone is dancing and singing and having a good time even though not everything is going great in their lives. 

 “Maribel unzipped my coat and spread it open like wings, folding it around me as far as it would reach. [...] And then Maribel fell backwards, right onto her ass. She started laughing. ‘I knew it wouldn’t last,’ she said. I knew it, too. But I wished like hell it would.” (pg.235) 

This reflects the idea of happiness because Mayor and Maribel were finally together again, and it was in a place that they thought was beautiful. 

Alma Pg.282 

“Suddenly out of nowhere, there she was. My Maribel. The one who once upon a time had painted her nails black and now wanted to dye her hair purple. The one determined to assert her independence and throw her arms around life. There she was again. The person Arturo and I had been waiting for, the reason for all of this.”

This connects to the concept Happiness because she saw that her daughter was getting better and that she was back to being herself even with Arturo not being their anymore. Now they are going back to Mexico where they were before.

Cheyenne, Skyler, Elli, Aubrey

 They wanted to be equal and have the house that they have seen in the movies, but because of money they were not able to get that.

"Eligible? But we have a letter from the doctor. We came all the way here so she could go to Evers."(pg.28) Phyllis was explaining that Maribel couldn't go to evers because she wasn't eligible enough because she couldn't speak english.

" Garrett Miller, who had basically picked on me last year his special project,pointed at me, laughed,and said " Fucking chicken legs" He flung his boot at my chest"(pg.15) He is being bullied and made fun of for being different and not the same as the boys are. 

 " Gustavo MilHojas, who was half-mexican and half-guatemalan, wrote a letter to the army telling them that as of that day he was 100% American and that he was ready to serve the country and kill the cowards who had murdered his fellow paisanos"(pg.85) After the Sept 11th attacks he felt as if he was 100% American. He probably felt equality as much of the country did as they came together after the tragic losses.

"The only reason they sponsored our visas was because the government was pressuring them to hire workers with papers. but now everyone's saying it was all talk." (pg. 181) They don't want immigrants because they don't want to have to pay extra money for their visas.

"People laughed in his face. They told him, 'Haven't you heard that the economy's in the shitter? We can't get rid of workers fast enough.' They told him, ' Crawl back across the river, amigo.'" (pg. 182) People made him feel stupid because he isn't like the people from Delaware and because he doesn't speak english.

"When she didn't answer, he said, 'What's the matter? you don't speak english? No ingles?'" (pg.70) She was mistreated because of her lack of english fluency

(pg.17) Whenever the girls broke out in laughter, I was sure they were laughing at me. One day I asked coach if I could go back in, even if it was just for a few drills." This passage shows Mayor is committed to get better at soccer and hopes even though he is scared to be embarrassed, he will become good.

 
 (pg.49) ¨¨Is there anything else you want to tell me?¨
¨I´m tired,¨ she said, and I nodded, deflated because I had expected more energy. I had expected her to come home full of energy, gushing about the other students and her teacher and how much she had learned.¨ This passage shows Alma hoping that even though Maribel has been like this since the accident, that someday she will be back to the way she was before the accident.

(Pg.51) ¨He made a clownish face, and I knew he was trying to make Maribel to laugh, trying to to extract  the tiniest hint of the girl she used to be.¨ The passage shows  that not only Alma, but also Her dad Arturo will not give up on her either. They know she may not ever be herself again but yet they still have hope and make attempts to pull her out of her current state.


Last three examples:

(Pg.265) ¨She looked so hopeful, so nervous. She stared, waiting for me to say more.¨ At this part of the story, Alma is with Maribel after her dads surgery and Maribel is hopeful that her dad will end up being okay.
(Pg. 210) ¨Why?¨ I asked. Was it Maribel? I wondered all of a sudden. Had something happened to her?¨ In this section, Mayor is very worried and hoping that Maribel is okay. 
(Pg.206) ¨My dad scoured the newspaper every day, searching the classifieds, calling any that sounded promising, and hanging up either in fury or in disappointment. 

“At the register, Arturo arranged everything on the counter and unfolded the money he’d been carrying in his pocket. Without saying a word, he handed the cashier a twenty-dollar bill. The cashier slid it into the drawer of the register and reached his open hand out to us.”

This shows their expectations of how much things cost in America have changed because they were confused on why the cashier was asking for more money. They thought they were being taken advantage of, which shifts the power dynamic to the cashier and taking away power from the Riveras. This also supports the concept of wealth because they didn’t have much to start with and thought what they were buying was too expensive. 

Pg. 76
¨Well I did my duty. May Obama win, because if its McCain I will shoot myself."
This passage discusses power because now she has the power and ability to t 

Pg. 117
¨ a nice house, diamond jewelry, an expensive car, and a big refrigerator.¨
talks about having big and expensive items and having material goods.

Pg. 175 
¨ï told my mom i wanted to live in New York City and dance on broad way.¨
relates to wealth because she wants to grow up to be rich dancer with fame and power. 

Pg. 163
¨we drove home, two thousand dollars poorer.¨
this shows wealth because not only do they have enough money to buy a car but they also no longer have to ride the bus because they can drive themselves where they need to go and that is a sign of wealth if you are driving around in a car.