The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

The Book of the Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez is a novel that aims to highlight the suffering of Americans. People come to this country from all over the globe in search of a better life and carrying the “American dream.” However, many of these immigrants struggle with a variety of issues as a result of their high living costs and low pay for menial employment. They eventually lead lives that are even worse than those they left behind in their home nations. Henrique, herself being an immigrant from Mexico, tells the story of residents and foreign-born citizens who fall into the category of the forgotten Americans’ through the story of the Rivera family and Mayor, who are the center of focus for the story. Having relocated from Mexico to Delaware, they family faces many difficulties coping up with the new culture and people, considering that the family is not proficient in the English language. Also, Arturo is an unskilled person, and therefore, has to work picking mushrooms in order to maintain their right to live in the USA on a work visa. The Rivera family moved to America in search for appropriate special education for their daughter. Henriquez’s story tells of the people who come to the United States with different purposes but are treated as poor immigrant opportunists and accorded the lower status life without a voice or any rights.

The title The Book of Unknown Americans is symbolic of the people whose existence hardly seems to matter. Despite the fact that each of them has a different goal of wanting to live in the USA, they are mistreated and accorded menial jobs that pay only meagre salaries. Due to the stereotype that many Latino Americans are illegal immigrants (Gates), the legal immigrants hardly enjoy any benefits. For instance, the reason for immigration for the Rivera family was to get a good education for their daughter in the USA. They abandon their comfortable lives in Mexico, where Arturo was a successful businessman for meagre salary. They are not the usual economic refuge-seekers with an American dream based on financial gains but rather ones with a hope for their daughter’s well-being. However, they end up losing everything because Arturo’s visa gets cancelled after losing the job and he is killed, and Alma and Maribel have to go back to Mexico (Henríquez 205). Therefore, even people who immigrate for education or medical purposes are mistreated without regard for their status of being legal immigrants. Therefore, they are bundled into third-class citizens, whom Henriquez refers to as the unknown Americans.

The Title of the novel is also symbolic of the forgotten citizens who acquire American citizenship entitling them to benefits of being American. Being the world’s largest economy, the American citizens are seen as having a better life. However, in reality, that is not true for foreign-born citizens whose citizenship is acquired by any means but birth and an American family lineage. They have to constantly deal with treatment as foreigners. Henriquez shows how these immigrants have to work harder than the ‘regular’ American to get life going. Benny Quinto says, “Immigrants do the kind of jobs that Americans do not want to deal with” (Henriquez 45). The author brings out the social segregation with which people have to live. They made America their new home yet they are not made to feel at home. Fito complains about this kind of treatment, saying, ”people tell me to go back home but I just turn to them and say am already there” (Henriquez 23).

The ‘unknown Americans’ have to deal with deplorable living conditions in all aspects, including economically, in education, and even security. They are hardly able to pay for decent housing or other essential services, and constantly have to worry about their place in the American society. Quinto’s statement that immigrants are only useful in places where ‘regular’ Americans can hardly work is a reality borne from the stereotype about Latino immigrants. The immigrants face hard economic conditions because of the kind of jobs left for them. They are exploited and have to work long hours in stressful environments without breaks while earning very little pay, which is reflected in their miserable living conditions. When the Rivera’s arrived in America, they lived in poor housing condition, different from what Alma had seen on television. They, like many other immigrants, hardly have any options; they take whatever is placed on the table before someone else as desperate as they are snatches it away. Race plays a significant role in this story. The color of one’s skin determines the opportunities open for the taking. For instance, in the case of the aspiring dancer, she knows that she has to lay low and wait for her time to show her talents after her predecessor retires. She says that there is only as much as Americans can take. Rivera’s family who do not know the local language face a hard time chasing these opportunities. Also, Garrett feels entitled to openly harass a girl just because she is not as ‘powerful.’ Even though they were living in the same apartment, there was a status quo and Garrett’s family, being white, stood paramount. That is why Garrett’s father felt entitled to shoot Rivera after a confrontation. This story tells the life that immigrants live even in today’s world. The author brought out all the matters that directly affect them.

Henriquez uses the characters in her novel to reflect upon her life, bring born of immigrant parents, with his father having immigrated into the United States for studies (Henriquez). She uses a poignant and sympathetic tone through the novel in sharing about the different characters. The author’s main concerns are the exploitation that immigrants are exposed to and the segregation by the locals. Mayor was picked on by other students in school being told to go back to where he came from. The author’s father was in the same position. The story reflects real life experiences of immigrants in America. The immigrants are motivated to get better lives for their families in the great land. For instance the case of Gustavo Milhojas who came to America to get money to educate his children even though he did not have one himself. The immigrants came from different backgrounds and moved to America with nothing. They did not know how receptive the country would be until they got there. In their minds, they would chase the American dream and have better lifestyles. They faced great disappointment upon knowing how they were treated in America. Eventually, they knew their place and settled for what they got. Rivera was rich in Mexico, but in America, he got a demeaning job on a farm, and it was hard to keep it. These immigrants felt left out because they had families and friends behind, but in this new land, there was no one to embrace them except their kind. They have to live with the fear of deportation, alienation, and poverty. These people also face injustices. For instance, when Garrett’s father shoots Rivera, Alma gets contributions from friends and packs to go back home. No one considers why she came into the country or if she achieved it.

Many of the events that occur in the lives of the characters apply in real life to residents who leave their countries to settle in the United States. They are often treated with stereotypes and accorded low living standards. The author of The Book of the Unknown Americans paints an alternative picture to that of the commonly established one in which the USA is the ‘green grass on the other side.’ Contrary to this popular belief, Henriquez tells of harsh realities that many immigrants have to face in the significant economic shifts into expensive American life while earning money that can hardly sustain it. They are denied a voice by being treated as illegal residents regardless of whether they are in the country legally or their reasons for immigrating. In many cases, they end up living in worse conditions than they left in their home countries; in this, the author shows that the grass may be greener at home than in foreign lands to whose culture, mannerisms, and economic conditions one has to acclimatize.

Works Cited

Gates, Sara. Impact Of Latino Stereotypes: Latin Americans Viewed Most Negatively In Immigrant Comparison Study. 22 August 2012. Website. 27 July 2017. .

Henriquez, Cristina. Novelist Cristina Henriquez: Immigrants As ‘Unknown Americans’. 20 January 2015. Website. 27 July 2017. .

Henríquez, Cristina. The Book of Unknown Americans. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2014. Priny.