![]() Tomas Rivera’s short story, “Zoo Island,” describes how Mexican immigrants suffered in the 1920s and 1930s, but it also offers a bit of hope. The immigrants and their children work in the fields, day after day. When it’s dark, they go to the market and then back to their meager camp to sleep. They wake the next day and endlessly repeat the same, excruciatingly boring, cycle. One of the children, Jose, decides to ward off boredom by taking a census (a population count) to see how many people are in their community. Jose is a fifteen year old boy who lives in the migrant work camp with many other Mexicans. The camp is on a farm owned by an American. Jose’s census reveals that there are more people in his “town” than in the nearby town where they get their groceries. It has churches, schools and other standard facilities that Americans too often take for granted.ĭespite their greater population, the other town has far more wealth. Rivera’s story describes both the pain and pride that the young Jose feels at realizing his community is larger Knowing this gives the boy and his community a bit of hope. Rivera’s story highlights the inequity and poverty of immigrants during this time, but it also points toward a future where things might change. Tomas Rivera's own history reflects the situation of his characters. His parents were Mexican immigrants and he was born in Texas, 1935. His dream was always to break out of his migrant shell and he did. R ivera uses his skills as an author and his own background to enhance his stories.He got his PhD in Philosophy at The University of Oklahoma and later taught at high schools. This emphasizes his theme of a zoo and his characters as the animals. He chose to write "Zoo Island" in the third person because it puts the reader in the position of looking in at the characters. As an author, Rivera copied the dialect of the people he farmed with, giving a realistic feel to his characters and their perspectives. This prompted him to continue his career as an author until he died in 1984 of a heart attack. He wrote his first short story after he was in a car accident in 1946. ![]() Rivera worked on farms in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota before he got his degree in Oklahoma. The character Jose was most likely based upon himself. He was so highly regarded that he became the chancellor of UC Riverside and he was the first Mexican American to hold such a position in the UC system. He got his PhD in Philosophy at The University of Oklahoma and later taught at high schools. Rivera was the first writer to document the experience of. His parents were Mexican immigrants and he was born in Texas, 1935. The Harvest (Arte Pblico Press, 1989) is a short story by Mexican American writer Toms Rivera. It has churches, schools and other standard facilities that Americans too often take for granted. Despite their greater population, the other town has far more wealth. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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