Even though Francisco has so much loss in his life, he is rich                                      in support and love from his family which makes him grow                                                                                      stronger.

 

As an immigrant, you encounter many difficult things in your time. There is a long list of what may be your obstacle. You could be bullied for your differences, you could move so much you don’t have contact with even one friend, or losing a lot of very important things to you. But many people have support from somebody important to them. In The Circuit, even though Francisco has so much loss in his life, he is rich in support and love from his family which makes him grow stronger.

 

Francisco was supported by his mother when she came outside his “house” to support him when he lost something special to him. In this chapter, Francisco starts collecting pennies. His father gave him one which was made the year his father was born, and also the year the war started. He loved each and every one of them, and his collection grew. He got one from his best friend Carl, before he never saw him again. But then, his sister traded in his two favorite pennies for two red gumballs, and he got very angry. But his mother calmed him down, with a story. He felt supported through this because his mother saw what he was going through.

“I know how disappointed you are mi’jito but your sister is only four years old,” she said tenderly. After telling him a calming story, she said: “please, don’t go so hard on your younger sister.”  

 

His mother was giving him advice but she was not scolding him for being angry with his younger sister. She gets what he is going through, and for that, he feels supported.

 

Another time, Francisco lost something even MORE precious. One of their many homes perished in a lovely fire, and along with the house goes his librito, his translation book. He felt terrible. How do you feel when you lose your favorite thing, or toy, or something that means a lot to you? But his mother, comforted him again.

 

“Well, if you know what was in your librito, then it’s not all lost.”

His mother is telling him that it is not all gone. When his family supports him, he pushes on, and goes on. His mother saw him memorize it, treat it like a friend, and learn it by heart. She knows it is not all lost. Even though they can’t afford another one.

 

Francisco’s dad experienced frightening immigration officers sweeping through the camp, and they rushed to tell him. Because there are illegal immigrants, life is much scarier, because at any second, la migra that they had been hiding from the entire book, could storm into their tent at any second.

 

“Mi’jito, are you alright?” his father said as soon as he got home. “La migra swept through the camp–I didn’t know if they had swept through your school too.”

Francisco felt he had lost so much already, he was not going to lose this. For once, he was kind of having fun in school. But still, he was frightened. Francisco felt supported, because he and his family were going through it together.

 

Francisco has lost so many things in his life, but his family comes to support him in each problem. He is not rich in money. Every friend he gets he loses. But he is rich in support and love from his family, because he knows that wherever he goes, they come with him. Change teaches him to focus on his family, because he loses so much. Every friend he ever had he lost, and every toy or thing he ever had he lost. Mexico was not a choice, they had to follow the food. If you are poor like them, you have to do what you are forced to do.