And the Earth Did not Devour Him by Tomas Rivera

As a rural area of immigrants, American history can non be written exclusively in a single perspective particularly of the dominant ethnic group. A all-encompassing depiction of our history requires the inclusion and accommodation of the experience of every fraction of modern American society.Tomas Riveras And the earth did non devour him, is a literary piece that provides an supplemental presentation of the US history in the perspective a beleaguered group of Mexican stirers albeit obliquely creating the impression that the US presidential term and its business capitalist partners are the oppressors.The story was set onetime(prenominal) betwixt the 1940s and 1950s during which many an(prenominal) Mexicans came to the US to work as farmers under the Bracero (manual labor) Program.This program which was instituted by both the Mexican and US government to cover the need for workers lost during the previous world wars, became a job for the exploitation and social discriminatio n of the temporary manpower imported from Mexico kind of of providing for the fair treatment of Mexicans workers in the US. Many transient Mexican workers (braceros) illicitly entered the US instead of returning to Mexico after the expiration of their work contracts.This prompted the US government to deport over 3 million Mexican migrants without befitting regard to their individual rights, without effectively differentiating legal and illegal migrants and without due retainer to the disintegration of family relations.In a series of different stories often with unnamed characters, Tomas Riveras new generally captures the shins and challenges in the lives of Latino migrant workers in their employment in America.The Struggle of the Mexican AmericanMexico leads in the Latino in-migration to the U.S. The sharp rise of illegal immigrants from Mexico especially with the Braceros program created political tensions between the US and Mexico. History would almost always recount the ill egal immigration of Mexican farmers by reporting the series of steps used by the US government in combating illegal immigration.For example, aside from the massive exile of illegal Mexican immigrants (i.e. Operation Wetback) initiated by the Eisenhower administration, the US government instigated a U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement with the objective of generating jobs in Mexico in devote to prevent, discourage and decrease the pour of Mexican workers illegally entering the US soil.Strict laws that called for tighter restrictions on legal and illegal immigration to regulate the U.S.-Mexico border were implemented.Later on, many American states adopted the English only policy which delegates English as the exclusive official language. The standardization of language was accordingly intended to confirm the integration of Mexican immigrants in the American community. (Stacy, p 609-613)This example of diachronic account along with similar and related events tends to reduce the incid ence of immigrant farm workers in the United States in American history as a mere issue of illegal immigration without due consideration and designation to the unique experience and socio-political circumstances of Mexican migrant workers in sulphur Texas.By recording the lives and recounting the traditional trails of an immigrant population, the novel produces in an artistic hitherto authentic literary piece the religious history of a large number thereby providing them a distinct cultural voice.In light of their familys struggle to be total part of America, the protagonist in the novel undergoes intimate and spiritual moments of resolving ones identity, family and society beyond the sheer politics of defying the dominant culture. In one instance, he even questioned Gods wisdom in their plight.God could not care less about the poor. Tell me, wherefore must we live here like this? What have we done to deserve this? Youre so good and yet you have to suffer so much (Rivera, p 18 9)The stories in the novel practically served to support and affirm the hardships and brutalities that the immigrant Mexican farmers faced at work. In the story, That It Hurts, one boy was expelled from direct because he was Mexican.In another terrifying story, The Children Couldnt Wait, a boy was killed because he couldnt comply with the bosss insistence that the workers should wait to revel water, a privilege freely endowed to cattle but not to the Mexican workers. The farmers bear long hours of intense work, modest food and lacking(p) accommodations in their camps for a meager pay.The children needed to join their parents in work in the fields to improve family earnings at the expense of not being able to attend school. Younger children incapable to work were left over(p) to fend for themselves which made them vulnerable to poor health conditions and other environmental risks.While the predicament of the Mexican migrant workers is comparable to the slavery of the blacks ear lier on in the history of America, the novel depicts a young mans struggle for self identification which ended with a reaffirmation of his bicultural predisposition as well as his patrimony and allegiance with America. The novel did not necessarily represent resentment against the Anglo culture and resistance.Thus, people should reconsider the ill-usage of immigrant workers and the discrimination of ethnic minorities in general. For instance, the novel did not directly bump the Anglo culture but only uses it for comparative discussion of differences aimed to create a sense of pride and community among the oppressed Mexicans.In the anecdote entitled The night before Christmas, the Mexican mother tells her children that, In Mexico, its not Santa clause who bring the gifts, but the three wise men. And they dont come in the sixth of January, thats the real date.(Rivera, p130) In this example, the novel is not directly criticizing American culture but is surreptitiously protesting ag ainst a social imposition of the dominant culture that utterly disregards the religious beliefs of Mexicans.