Angel-Portilla 1 Andres Angel-Portilla English 1A Professor Rivas Gomez 19 February 2014 The Power Within The Distance Between

Us Rarely do we read works of literature with the ability to transform the audiences perspective through characteristics possessed by both changewriting and counterstorytelling. As Mary Piphers book, Writing to Change the World, suggests, change writing is the ability to construct the world we live in through the medium of literature by affecting the conscious minds of readers. Counterstorytelling has the potential to do the same as it exposes realities the underprivileged experience (Merriweather Hunn). Reyna Grandes book, The Distance Between Us represents the demographic of Mexican immigrants whose desire is to cross their countrys border and live in the United States in pursuit of a better life. She effectively does so by engaging readers and welcoming them to share the emotions of her experiences and struggles to catalyze transformation within society. Through texts, change writers allow readers into new experiences which relate to subjects that would otherwise be neglected. According to Mary Piphers book Writing to Change the World, "Change writers hope that reader will join them in what Charles Johnson calls "an invitation to struggle" (Pipher, 23). Through this newly opened door, readers enter a dimension in which they can connect with the writers personal tribulations and combat parallel emotions in unfamiliar situations. When Reynas father asks her why she says he cant take Mago to the United States with him, Reyna responds, Because shes all I have (Grande 147). Her word choice welcomes the audience in an emotional struggle of a generally unfamiliar situation.

Angel-Portilla 2 Although it is common to develop a dependence of another throughout sometime in our lives, it is rare to see, especially in a child so young, a dependence in which not a mother, rather a sister is all she has. Through this scene in the book Grande generates the audiences ability to sympathize for the silent voices abandonment effects. Reyna Grande demonstrate her capability to change write by inviting readers to share emotions, and even tears, while simultaneously enhancing the audience members with new perspectives. Grande transforms readers with literature by raising awareness of situations many of us do not experience or are ignorant to. In Writing to Change World, Mary Pipher explains, "Writing to connect is "change writing," which, like good therapy creates the conditions that allow people to be transformed. Its goal is not to evoke one particular set of ideas, feelings, and actions, but rather to foster awareness and growth" (Pipher, 8). It draws attention to occurrences we may have heard about, but its drastic results we do not consider. Reyna Grande writes, I am glad I did not know about the thousands of immigrants who had died before my crossing and who have been dying ever since (154). She sheds light on the fatal possibility she could have experienced and the dangers that we, the audience, do not because it is not embedded within our own personal encounters. This is not an acknowledgable reality to those who do not come across these terrible life threatening paths in their own lives. The public remains generally unconcerned because they have not engaged in a more personal accumulation of knowledge for things like the potential fatalities of crossing the border and the vast number of people who do die. Grandes book opens a gate within the readers perspective; she opens the mind and heart by publishing her reflections. Her writing transforms her books recepients through thought by fostering a genuine concern that would otherwise be absent. The same way Tara Yosso enlightens her readers consciousnesses of inferior treatment

Angel-Portilla 3 of Chicanos through counterstorytelling, Reyna Grande also emphasizes the neglectful truths that exist to these minorities. Because The Distance Between Us tells the story of a poor, undocumented, immigrant girl and her familys desire to live the United States, a place where they can pursue economic freedom, it speaks up on behalf of all minorities experiencing these aspects within their lives. Miguel, a mexican immigrant who crossed the border explains, In Oaxaca our farm failed and there was nothing to eat; there are no jobs in our area and I asked myself: Would God want me to watch my five children die of hunger? And I knew the answer to that question had to be No! That I had to do everything to feed my family (Dunn 127). Similarly Reynas memoir explains her fathers decision to cross the border was to escape the economic shackles Mexico had on him which limited his ability to provide a safe shelter for his family. Her memoir exposes that these minorities decide to risk their lives because they have no other choice but to provide for their families. Although the extent of risking ones own life as a parent to save ones familys lives under these circumstances is not common, parent readers of Grandes book can relate to the measures they are willing to take for their family's well being, which enables readers who do not belong to the minority group of immigrants to connect with their once neglected struggles. Reynas memoir also unmasks identity crises minorities like herself experience and challenges white American privileges. In a magazine article, an undocumented Mexican in the U.S. analyzes, There is no proof Im alive. No country knows me (Seckman). Likewise, Reyna experienced being undocumented in the United States and the lack of privileges many Americans take for granted. Unfortunately sometimes rights that are assumed to naturalized citizens are not available to those who enter their new home in the United States and therefore creates the notion that whites are more valuable and more powerful than Mexican immigrants who generally have

Angel-Portilla 4 darker physical factions. Michelle, a light skinned Mexican with green eyes and blonde hair describes that white students would may racist remarks and, When she told them she was Mexican, they would be surprised and would explain that they didnt mean Mexicans like her (Yosso, 107). Michelles experience correlated with Reyna Grandes confusion of what her true identity is, an aspect of self that many naturalized American citizens assume much more easily with their citizenship rights. Throughout Grandes book we can conclude confusion due to her no longer being the baby of the family with the introduction of her sister Betty, favoring one or the other of her two parents throughout different moments of her memoir, and the discrimination that accompanied her culture shift when she moves to the United States. She teaches those with these same occurrences that they are not alone and to those who do not experience these endeavors that although it is unfortunate, discrimination still exists because of the unfair, privileged rights nonimmigrants receive merely because they were born into the society. Through the projection of counterstorytelling Reyna represents the bicultural demographic and challenges the majority of Americans who take the understanding of their identity and privileges for granted. Reyna Grande evidently represents minorities with struggles including the risk of crossing lands and the reasons for it, poverty, undocumentation, and identity. She demonstrates change writing by inviting readers of her memoir to partake in her experiences without evoking emotions, rather by welcoming them through ones own personal thought and interpretation. She sheds light on the shadowed truths and sometimes fatal struggles experienced by common minorities and stresses them through change writing and counterstorytelling. Rarely do we encounter works with the power to represent and transform those who read them. Rarely do we read novels with the significance and impact Reyna Grandes The Distance Between Us has. Works Cited

Angel-Portilla 5 Dunn, Ed. "Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, and: Border of Death, Valley of Life: An Immigrant Journey of Heart and Spirit (review)."Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality. 3.1 (2003): 127-129. Web. 14 Feb. 2014. Grande, Reyna. The Distance between Us: A Memoir. New York: Washington Square, 2013. Print. Merriweather Hunn, Lisa R. Who Can Speak for whom? Using Counter-Storytelling to Change Racial Hegemony (2006): 244-250. Print. Pipher, Mary. Writing to Change the World. New York: Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2006. Print. Seckman, Morgan. "Undocumented." Louisville Magazine 11 Dec. 2011: 34-36. EBSCO. Web. 14 Feb.2013.<http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=e70c2d82-aaf3-429a-84533c576c361689%40sessionmgr4005&vid=1&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z Q%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=69539366>. Yosso, Tara J. "Chicana/o Undergraduate "Stages Of Passage"" Critical Race Counterstories along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline. New York: Routledge, 2006. 99-127. Print.