Circuit Essay
Families are important. Not all families are loving but a lot are and it’s important to have a loving family. Loving families help each other out in a lot of ways. Some help each other out and some give support to one another. In The Circuit, by Francisco Jimenez Francisco and his family always want to help each other out.
Francisco wanted to get a cotton sack because that way he could collect more cotton and then his family would get more money. A lot of kids probably would have not wanted to do more work but he did. He really wanted to be taken more seriously. He felt that he really could make a difference. “Not bad, 600 pounds,” Papa said grinning, “We could have done better if I had my own sack,” I thought to myself. Pg. 69 Even though Francisco was just talking about a cotton sack, the cotton sack meant a lot to him. I bet that if Francisco got that cotton sack he would have been really happy. He would have felt that he was helping his family. He would have felt that Roberto was not the only kid in his family that helped out. He would have thought that he made a difference in his family. Even though in the end he did not get the cotton sack, he still tried really hard to get it. Even if the situation was really tough he still wanted to do it to help his family.
Another example of Francisco and his family always wanting to help each other is when Papa’s back hurt a lot. When it hurt so much that he could not work, everyone in the family pitched in to help him feel better. Papa got really upset because he felt that it was his job to make the money for his family so that they could survive and because he could not work it would be harder for his family to survive. They would have to work harder. He got really worried about not being able to work but Roberto made him feel better. “Don’t worry Papa,” Roberto responded “Panchito and I can find work in Santa Maria thinning lettuce and topping carrots.” Pg. 116 Papa makes a big difference in the field labor. He usually makes around half of the amount of pounds out of the whole family. It will make a big difference to not have Papa working in the fields but Roberto does not want to let him down. Roberto does not want Papa to feel bad about that so he says that to try to cheer him up. Even though to almost everyone thinks that thinning lettuce and and topping carrots is nothing but to Francisco’s family that is the only way that they can make money. Roberto, Francisco, Mama and the rest of their family were willing to do almost anything the make Papa feel better.
The last example of Francisco and his family always wanting to help each other is when Francisco lost his notebook when his family’s house burned down. Francisco was really upset because he used it all of the time. All of the words, rules and things that he needed to know were in that notebook. He thought that when he lost that notebook he had lost all of the knowledge that he had learned over the years at school in America. After his house burned down he sat and the steps and cried. Mama came over to him and comforted him. “Do you know what was in your libretto?” “Yes,” I answered, wondering why she asked. “Well… if you know what was in your libretto then it’s not lost.” Pg. 111-112 I think that Mama said that to him because she felt bad for him. The whole family had lost a lot of things but they were not showing it like he was. He was devastated. The way that he thought about losing his libretto was that he had lost everything that he had learned. I think that she said that because of two reasons. One was that he could learn a lesson and two just because she loved him a lot and that she could not bear to see him so sad.
In the Circuit, Francisco and his family support each other whenever they can. Francisco tried really hard to earn the cotton sack, his family made Papa feel better when he could not work and when Francisco lost his libretto when his house burn down, Mama made him feel better. Family is a very important thing especially when times are hard.