A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes
A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes - A Dream Called Home" is a novel by Reyna Grande, a
Mexican-American author. The book is a memoir that tells the story of the
author's childhood growing up in Mexico and her journey to reunite with her
family in the United States.
The book explores themes of immigration, poverty, and family,
as Reyna navigates the challenges of growing up without her parents and later
navigating the complexities of reuniting with them in a new country. The book
provides a powerful and deeply personal look at the experiences of immigrants
and the sacrifices they make in pursuit of a better life for themselves and
their families. Through her story, the author sheds light on the human side of
the immigration debate and encourages readers to understand and empathize with
the struggles of those who have come to the United States in search of a better
future.
A Dream Called Home Summary
Reyna divides her autobiography into two parts. "Twice
the Girl I Used to Be," the first book in the series, describes her life
as a creative writing student at the University of California, Santa Cruz
(UCSC). Before finding her place in her programme, Reyna experiences
microaggressions from White students and faculty, as well as feelings of
otherness. Her professor mispronouncing her name on the first day of class,
moving her troubled sister onto campus, finding writing mentors, and becoming
more comfortable with her dual identity through her involvement with a student
folklórico group were all pivotal moments during this period. Throughout Book
1, flashbacks recount Reyna's abuse, abandonment, and immigration.
"The Home I Carry," Reyna's second book, focuses on
her post-university years, which are initially marked by professional and
personal setbacks. Reyna struggles to find work as a writer, accepts a teaching
position that leaves her with little time to write, and has a string of failed
romantic relationships, A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes one of which results in the birth of her son. She is
also dealing with her grandmother's death and the cycle of abuse that has
afflicted her family. Despite these obstacles, Reyna is steadfast in her
pursuit of becoming a professional writer and creating a loving home. She buys
a house, is accepted into a prestigious writing programme, meets the man of her
dreams, and receives a book deal for her debut novel, Across a Hundred
Mountains.
In 1996, Reyna and her boyfriend Edwin drive north to UCSC
and California State University, Monterey Bay, their respective universities.
Reyna’s ambivalence grows the further they go. On one hand, leaving Los Angeles
saddens her, despite her troubled relationship with her parents and siblings.
On the other hand, she is excited by the prospect of becoming the first person
in her family to earn a university degree, which she sees as the key to the
American Dream. Reyna recalls supporting her father Natalio during his divorce,
only to be rejected by him after his wife agrees to take him back on the
condition that he renounce his children.
Reyna's father has a history of treachery. He had moved to the United States from Mexico years before, leaving Reyna and her older siblings, Magloria (Mago) and Carlos, in the care of their biological mother Juana, who had later abandoned them. The kids eventually joined their father in Los Angeles, but the damage had already been done. Reyna wishes to have a positive relationship with her parents.
As she arrives on the UCSC campus and
admires its majestic redwoods, she remembers her father’s emphasis on tenacity
and his belief in the transformative power of education: “I’ve done my part,”
he said when he handed her a Green Card as a teenager, adding, “The rest is up
to you” (8). A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes
Reyna is surprised when her roommate Carolyn asks where she is from on her first day at UCSC. Rather than discussing nationality and cultural identity, she retreats to her room and observes parents dropping off their children from her window. Her stomach grumbles as she wishes her own family could help her get settled. Carolyn bursts through the door as Reyna finishes unpacking. They walk to a party together, but Reyna soon finds herself alone with a group of strangers, most of whom are White. Reyna reflects on the obstacles she surmounted to get to UCSC. She was born in the town of Iguala, Mexico in 1975. Her father immigrated to the US in search of work when she was toddler, and her biological mother Juana followed two years later. By the age of five, Reyna and her siblings were parentless. The grandmother who raised them, Abuela Evila, kept them in rags and fed them nothing but beans and tortillas. The children were elated when their mother returned with a baby, Betty, after getting divorced.
A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes Their happiness, however, was short-lived because Juana prioritised finding a new husband over her children. Reyna's father returned when she was ten, and she and her siblings were smuggled across the border by a smuggler. Her mother also returned to the United States, where she had her fifth child, Leo. Reyna recalls feeling inferior to her siblings who were born in the United States. Her insecurities resurface at the UCSC party. where she watches from the sidelines as a blond, blue-eyed classmate laughs with enviable confidence. Reyna befriends two Latino students from Los Angeles, Alfredo and Jaime. Alfredo opens up to Reyna, telling her about his brain injury, but she does not reciprocate. She excuses herself to get a bite to eat, all the while feeling inspired by Alfredo’s resilience.
Reyna is taken aback by the large, predominantly White
homeless population in downtown Santa Cruz on her way home. Her contempt for
them is unmistakable, a sentiment she inherited from her father, who despises
people who rely on government assistance. Seeing a young homeless woman reminds
Reyna of an argument she had with her father three years ago, when he told her
she was doomed. Although Reyna looks up to her father, she is aware of his
flaws, most notably his alcoholism and physical and emotional abuse, which
caused Carlos to drop out of college and Mago to act out. Assuming the worst of
Reyna, her father refused to sign the paperwork she needed to secure a spot at
UC Irvine during her senior year of high school. Reyna sees a Mexican market as
she recalls this painful incident. The market, called La Esperanza, fills her
with hope.
The theme of abandonment is central to Reyna's memoir. In
Chapter 6, she revisits her lingering rage over her mother's abandonment.
Reyna's mother had abandoned her children over a decade ago to pursue a
romantic relationship in Acapulco, but her feelings remained raw. Reyna's rage
lessens when she realises her mother was abandoned as well. Reyna’s father left
his family in Iguala when he immigrated in search of work, a situation that was
particularly hard on her mother: “I understood that my mother hadn’t wanted to
be an abandoned woman. [...] A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes How happy and proud my mother had been when my
father telephoned and said, ‘I need you. I want you to come’” (45).
Sending Betty to live in Mexico is also a form of
abandonment. Betty is still a minor when her mother sends her to Iguala as
punishment for her bad behaviour. Her goal is to provide Betty with a
traditional upbringing, similar to the one she, her sisters, and her mother
received. Betty, on the other hand, is headstrong and refuses to follow
Abuelita Chinta's rules. Betty stops going to school, spends her time
socialising with friends, and becomes romantically involved with a married man
because she doesn't have a parent to keep her on track. Reyna’s mother
complains about Betty’s behavior: “She’s driving your aunt crazy […] She’s
running wild, and your aunt can’t control her anymore” (43). Reyna responds by
calling out her mother for neglecting her parental duties: “‘Well, you
shouldn’t have sent her down there in the first place […] She’s your
responsibility, not my aunt’s. Why are you always making other people raise
your children?’” (43).A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes.
Reyna understands Betty's plight because she has been abused
and abandoned by her parents. She vows to provide her sister with the stable
home she never had: "Little sparrows need their mothers, at least until
they learn to fly," Reyna says to herself, paraphrasing an old woman she
met on a pilgrimage from Iguala to Pueblo Viejo. She embraces her new role as a mother-figure,
knowing it will benefit her as much as her sister: “I could be the mother Betty
needed, and I wouldn’t be so lonely anymore if I had her with me” (71).
Reyna provides guidance for Betty by stressing the importance
of education and resilience, two themes that feature prominently in her opening
chapters. In Chapter 7, for instance, she reminds Betty of how much they
sacrificed for a chance at a better life. Reyna wants her sister to move back
to the US and enroll in school. She is confident education will have a positive
impact on Betty, just as it has on her. For Reyna, UCSC is more than a school;
it is the place where she belongs: “I have found my paradise. I am finally
happy, despite what [Abuela Evila] did. I have found a beautiful home” (64).
Reyna uses powerful imagery to highlight negative emotions
and experiences. In Chapter 6, two months after arriving at UCSC, she describes
her trepidation about calling her father. On the one hand, she longs to hear
her father's voice. Her father, on the other hand, has a long history of
physically and emotionally abusing her. She picks up a pay phone but does not
dial his phone number. Instead, she listens to the dial tone until the phone
starts “screeching like a dying rooster” (41).
Reyna uses more dark imagery later in the chapter, in her
description of Iguala. Of the city’s debris-filled canal, she says, “The
stagnant water smelled worse than a dead animal” (47). The darkest imagery,
however, appears in Chapter 8 during Reyna’s visit with her paternal
grandmother. Reyna is horrified when Abuela Evila scratches at her skin and
claims maggots are eating her. The thought of her grandmother’s decomposing
flesh being eaten alive is more than she can bear. Reyna then learns that
Abuela Evila had measles as a child and that her mother had to pull maggots out
of the open sores. Recognizing the parallels between her and her grandmother,
Reyna casts the disturbing imagery in a positive light: “For years now, I had
been plucking at the invisible sores in my heart. The wounds of my childhood
had festered and would not heal. But, just like my grandmother, I had found the
strength to survive” (65).
The cycle of domestic violence is a recurring theme in
Reyna’s memoir. This theme comes into sharper focus in Chapter 19, during
Reyna’s impromptu visit to Iguala. Reyna’s aunt and grandmother strive to
comfort her after Eddie announces he is not interested in a romantic
relationship. Abuelita Chinta shares a story about her first love, which puts
Reyna’s heartbreak into perspective and provides insights into her family’s
long history of domestic abuse. Abuelita Chinta tells Reyna she fell for a
young man named Eliseo, but her father and brothers disapproved because Eliseo
was a poor, simple peasant. Determined to be with the man she loved, Abuelita
Chinta ran away from home and moved in with Eliseo. Her father and brothers
were so infuriated they threatened Eliseo and forcibly brought her home: “‘[M]y
father and brothers came looking for me, and they grabbed me by the hair and
dragged me out of his house. They threatened to kill Eliseo if he came near me
again, and that was the end of our relationship’” (148).
The end of her relationship with Eliseo did not mean the end
of Abuelita Chinta's abuse. Reyna is taken aback when she learns that her
grandfather forced Abuelita Chinta into a sexual relationship: "One day,
after work, he waited for me to come out of the bar and pushed me against the
brick wall and put a knife to my throat, threatening to kill me if I didn't
become his woman" (148). Abuelita Chinta had no desire to marry her future
husband, who was 20 years her senior and an alcoholic, but her family refused
to assist her in resisting his advances. Reyna knows Abuelita Chinta’s experiences are
in no way unique, yet she finds the story of forced marriage impossible to
believe. Hearing about the violence her grandmother experienced infuriates
Reyna, who places the blame squarely at the feet of machismo Mexican culture:
“And I suddenly hated her father and her brothers. I hated my grandfather for
what he did. I hated my culture for breeding these men who would treat women as
if they were merely objects to be used and abused” (149).
Reyna repeatedly pursues unhealthy romantic relationships, a
problem that stems from being abandoned and abused by her father. Indeed, Reyna
spends much of young adulthood trying to fill the void her father left. Her
relationship with Francisco is a case in point. Carlos thinks Francisco is a
bad choice for his sister because he is fifteen years her senior and drives a
truck for a living. A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes Mago reiterates her husband’s opinion: “I don’t trust him.
Nena, after you worked so hard for an education, how can you end up with a
truck driver?” (174). Reyna continues the relationship, despite Francisco’s
shortcomings, which are far more substantive than his age and career choice.
Francisco is impatient with Reyna, especially when he tries to teach her new
dances. In addition, he cheats on her with other women. She stays with him, in
large part, because he reminds her of her father:
So the truth was that I was once again trying to find his
replacement, and Francisco–with dark skin the exact shade as my father’s, hands
just as rough and calloused, and breath that smelled of beer–was the perfect
substitute. Like my father, Francisco spoke broken English. He had been born
into a poor family in Mexico and had to toughen up to survive. He immigrated to
search for a better life in the U.S. and had found work as a cement truck
driver (174).
Reyna does not lack self-awareness. She knows her
relationship with her father impacts her choice of romantic partners. She falls
for Eddie in college precisely because he is the opposite of her father: “I was
ready for a different kind of love–a guy who didn’t remind me of my father for
a change” (142). Eddie’s rejection hurts Reyna in part because she so badly
wants a healthy relationship: “I wanted to have a relationship without the
turmoil, drama, and psychological trauma of my abusive upbringing getting in
the way” (146).
Deprived of love by her parents, Reyna seeks it elsewhere. In
Chapter 23, she describes her impulse to have a baby, a desire fueled by a
visit to Mago at the hospital. The lonelier Reyna feels, the more appealing
motherhood becomes: “Motherhood is exactly what you need, the little voice
inside me insisted. A baby would love you like no one else has loved you. With
a baby, you could make a family and not be alone anymore” (180).
A Dream Called Home Themes
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HOUSE AND A
HOME
The difference between house and home plays a key role in
Reyna’s memoir. As the book’s title suggests, Reyna dreams of having a home,
and this dream drives her to work hard during and after college. The desire
stems from not having a stable home as a child. Reyna grew up in a shack and
spent years of her life parentless and in the care of her abusive grandmother.
Reyna’s father left his wife and children in search of work in the US. His
primary reason for leaving was to save enough money to build his family a dream
house. He eventually built a modest, cinderblocks structure. By that point,
however, his family had already fallen apart. One of his sisters now occupies
the house, which stands as a sad reminder of what happened to the Grandes. When
Reyna’s father builds a pergola over her patio, she realizes that although he
built her two houses, only she can build herself a home.
Reyna purchases a house in South Central through a program
offering favorable prices to teachers. The house is run-down and located in a crime-ridden
neighborhood, yet Reyna turns it into a loving home for her and Nathan. She
welcomes loved ones into her home, including her father after he sells his
house and Mago after she leaves her common-law husband. Cory is also a regular
visitor to Reyna’s home, which is where their relationship blossoms. The South
Central house, however, is not the first Reyna tried to turn into a home. In
college, she moves Betty into the campus apartment she shares with roommates to
provide her sister with a stable home. After administrators threaten to evict
them, Reyna moves Betty to the Westcliff Apartments, where she again tries to
create a home.
Throughout her formative years, Reyna struggles to find her
place. She does not feel at ease in either the United States or Mexico. It
isn't until she meets Marta and Erica that she starts to accept her dual
identity and feels at home in both places. She decides not to live with Gabe
after college because the house he built in the woods was his dream house, not hers.
She realises she must use her skills to build her own home: "I would build
my home out of the only things I had-words and dreams" (106). In Chapter
12, she compares the structure of her first novel, Across a Hundred Mountains,
to that of a house: "And as I held my book in my hands, feeling its
comforting weight, its thick pages..."
HOLDING ONTO ONE’S MEXICAN IMMIGRANT
IDENTITY IN AMERICA
Reyna’s identity as an immigrant is central to her memoir.
She immigrates to the US at the age of nine after two failed attempts to cross
the border. From the time she arrives, she struggles to fit into her new
culture. In the fifth grade, for example, Reyna’s grasp of English is so poor
she writes a Spanish-language story for a school contest, only for it to be
rejected and unread. She continues to feel like an outsider on UCSC’s
predominantly White campus, as evidenced by her discomfort at the campus co-op
and local grocery store, which sell unfamiliar food. Although Mexico is her
country of birth, Reyna does not belong there in the eyes of her relatives, who
treat her like an Americanized foreigner. In short, Reyna feels marginalized no
matter where she goes: “For years, I had struggled to fit in, to learn the
language and culture, to find my way. But no matter how hard I tried, I still
felt like a foreigner” (36).
A Dream Called Home Summary and Themes At UCSC, Reyna begins to see her dual identity as a benefit.
Marta is extremely important in this regard. She tells Reyna that people treat
her differently because she is different. Reyna is bilingual, bicultural, and
binational, unlike her Mexican relatives and most Americans. Her differences
not only make her stand out wherever she goes, but they also make her more, not
less, than others. Erica also assists Reyna in becoming more comfortable with
her dual identity. Reyna's confidence has grown, and she continues to write
about her life as an immigrant, even when others criticise her decision.
Meeting other Latino students, joining a campus folklórico group, studying
Spanish for Spanish speakers, and taking a Chicano literature course all help
Reyna feel more at home.
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