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'Nobody's Son' By Luis Alberto Urrea

1560 Words7 Pages

Family Influences
The style of parenting a child receives while growing up is very important when it comes to adulthood. Some children are taught by their parents on what to do and what mindsets to have in life, whereas some children use their parents' wrongdoings as an example on what not to do as an adult. “Nobody’s Son,” by Luis Alberto Urrea, shows the effect of bad parenting on a child throughout adulthood. “My Ecumental Father” by Jose Antonio Burciaga and "Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both show the effect that good parenting has on children. “The Wedding” by Firoozeh Dumas, shows both sides of the argument. One's upbringing and the way that they were parented throughout their childhood always has an effect on their adulthood, either positive …show more content…

His father was Mexican and his mother was American. However, his mother never accepted his Mexican identity, saying, “I'm so sick of your God-damned Mexican bullshit!” (5). Urrea was never in touch with his Mexican side of the family either, because his Father was absent for most of his life. This led him to not feel accepted by either side of his family, therefore the name of the story, “Nobody’s Son”. In the text it states, “But mostly, I got to thinking, they must have been scared of me. I was one of them, but I was also one of them” (7). In this quote the author is saying how he thought that his Mexican side of the family was scared of him. Even though he was one of “them”, he was also an American, which many of them were scared of, or did not get along with. There is a clear racial divide created in this family, where Urrea doesn't feel accepted on either side of his family. However, even though he had these troubles in his childhood, he ended up well off into his adulthood, eventually becoming a professor at Harvard. He used his parents wrongdoings as examples of what not to do and eventually became successful. This story shows how the influence of a parent, no matter how flawed or complex, can shape a child's identity and help to shape the adult they will

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