Cristina Henriques is the author of The Book of Unknown Americans, which tells the story of Hispanic families. The work is based on the story of the Rivera family, who emigrated from Mexico to America and tried to establish their lives there. The family members are Alma and Arthur, who are the parents of the girl Maribel, who suffered a traumatic brain injury due to an accident at a construction site. The entire Rivera family cannot speak English, which is why they have significant problems at work and are in poverty. As the primary literary device, the author uses the conflict, which consists of the fact that Alma cannot get along in a new country without knowledge of the language, and also in the fact that her daughter Maribel, due to her trauma, is experiencing unavoidable suffering.
Alma and Arturo lived almost all their lives in Mexico, where they had a home, friends, native language, and everything familiar. Despite her strong character, Alma is very hard going through the suffering her move to America brought her. She is scared of the changes that have taken place, which creates conflict. That is, the conflict, in this case, lies in what the Rivera family had and what they have now, in what Alma imagined and what she eventually received. The conflict, in this case, is not direct but in Alma’s ideas and the reality happening around her. She cannot speak English but wants to learn it so her daughter can do her homework. The author writes: Maybe I would even learn enough to be able to help Maribel with her homework (HenrĂquez 58). That is, although each family member does not know English and life is going to be quite challenging, they still immigrate to another country, and that is what generates Alma’s inner conflict.
Maribel’s life is also full of conflicts. Moreover, it all starts with the fact that in Mexico, she falls and gets a traumatic brain injury and therefore experiences difficulties with development. With the move to a new country, she acquires love and a conflict with Garrett, who teases Maribel and her beloved man Mayor. Garrett and the Mayor are also in a state of conflict since the Mayor is in love with Maribel, and Garrett considers her mentally retarded (HenrĂquez 67). The next conflict arises between the Mayor’s father and the Mayor himself because the young man spends much time with Maribel. He throws the football and unjustified the father’s dreams of a football star son. The father forbids the Mayor to see his beloved, but the young man finds different ways to violate this punishment and lies to Alma that the punishment has been lifted (HenrĂquez 88). Maribel faces another conflict with herself when her father dies at the hands of Garrett’s father, who comes to talk to Garrett about trying to rape Maribel.
In conclusion, the work of Cristina Henriques’s The Book of Unknown Americans is complex and profound. A family of Mexicans immigrates to America where, contrary to their expectations, they face various difficulties. One of the leading literary techniques is the conflict that arises in the main characters concerning other heroes, as well as internal conflicts. Alma, one of the main characters, has many internal conflicts associated with both moving and homesickness and her daughter Maribel. Maribel also suffers from many conflicts both with herself and with others.
Work Cited
Henriques, Cristina. The Book of Unknown Americans. Knopf, 2014.