"Pocho" by Jose Antonio Villarreal

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the 1959 novel "Pocho" by Jose Antonio Villarreal that shows the political as well as the economic reasons for Mexican-American difficulties with assimilating into American society. The paper explores how the immigrant son, Richard, experiences the classical American identity crisis that particularly afflicts recent immigrants and members of races deemed to be 'minorities.' The paper posits that Pocho is perhaps most useful to us today as an example of how far America has come, in terms of racial and cultural understanding. The paper adds that this novel also acts as a reminder of how second generation immigrants will have a different relationship with their home nation than their parents, often causing inter-family tensions.

Outline:
Overview
Reaction
Applications to Cross-Cultural Psychology

From the Paper:

"The 1959 novel Pocho by Jose Antonio Villarreal is a quintessentially American novel in the ways that it details the often painful process of assimilation of a new immigrant group into America. Pocho details the migration of the Rubio family heading north from Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. It portrays the family as leaving Mexico as part of a general migration pattern, typical of previous generations of American immigrants. The Rubio family "came on--insensitive to the fact that even though they were not stopped, they were not really wanted. It was the ancient quest for El Dorado, and so they moved onward, west to New Mexico and Arizona and California, and as they moved, they planted their new seed" (Villarreal 15). Yet unlike previous immigrants the Rubios almost immediately encounter racism, and learn the sad lesson that a Mexican-American must never call a white man a liar."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Villarreal, Jose Antonio. Pocho. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1970.

More papers on "Pocho" by Jose Antonio Villarreal:

• Book Review # 92156 : "Pocho"
• Comparison Essay # 95469 : "Assimilation"
• Analytical Essay # 13704 : "Jose Antonio Villareal's " Pocho"

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