Hernandez1

Karla Hernandez

Professor Battie

English 101

31 May 2017

More than Immigration

The mural I chose was The Wall that Speaks, Sings and Shouts. by Paul Botello. This

mural is located in East Los Angeles. Botello uses symbolism with the objects of the mural to

portray the struggles Latino families face when coming into the United States. Other factors that

help symbolise the struggles of Latinos in the mural are the colors and shapes. The book named

Picture This, by Molly Bang, focuses on the shapes, and on how the positioning and the

coloration of the shape affect the way we think and feel. The image of the family, the image of

the tree and the cubes, as well as their layout, symbolize the struggle of Latino immigrants on

their journey to America. These symbols are supposed to show the viewers of common struggles

for immigrants; they are to notice the struggles that aren't so noticeable. Also, they are supposed

to see that immigrants who migrate from their countries are the light and the future of their

family generations.

The image of the family shows them leaving home. In the center of the mural is a family

of four, looking united by the action of holding hands. The family is in movement of looking

back at something, or leaving an object behind. This is a symbol of Latino families leaving

everything behind in search of a better life. What this specifically means is their families, friends

and homes. As I looked at the family, I noticed that the children are carrying a laptop and a
 Hernandez2

textbook. The symbolism here is the gap of information that immigrants have when coming into

this country. When an artist symbolizes information it can be very broad; information of what

specifically? The lacking information in particular is of the language and history of the country.

Also, it correlates with the idea of immigrants coming to this country for a better future. A

textbook and a computer are devices that symbolise education, which can lead to better

opportunities.

The viewer looks to the right of the image of the tree and the cubes show the battle over

science and religion. Looking at this as a Latina, I see that in the Hispanic community religion is

very important and consequently implied in our lives.An apple tree symbolizes sin and

disobedience based on the biblical story of Adam and Eve. On the bottom of this tree, the roots

are painted into skulls implying death and on the top we see a dark grey man looking down on a

burning eagle that is surrounded with three-dimensional cubes. Because this mural its speaking

to the Latino community, when looking at the eagle, my thoughts are of the Mexican flag. On the

other hand, the three dimensional cubes represent science. The idea of having to choose between

science and religion is a common problem that Latinos face when coming into this country. This

gives me the sense of the artist when he was trying to portray the struggle of holding onto the

Latinos culture when coming to America. I also realized the artistic concept when looking at the

conjunto which is a specific type of band playing nortena, which is a genre of music talking

about the struggles of an immigrant when coming to America. The artist again implies the sense

of trying to hold onto culture. Music is a part of this but it is hard to do this for an immigrant

when coming into a country, where no one has heard that genre of music.

The layout shows movement. This mural is very colorful and has many different shapes

which give vibes of energy, movement and emotion rather than a mural that could of been very
 Hernandez3

dull and basic. Throughout the book by Molly Bangs the observations we notice that the artist

painted are in a specific way so we get a sense that it is three dimensional, which is implying

movement. The symbolism behind this is that it is trying to imply a time period or evolution. A

indian man is overtaking the background which symbolises the start of something and the

pictures that follow it represent that past leading to the future. Every picture that comes before

another is the evolution of immigrants. The struggles that Latinos face could be struggles every

immigrant faces when leaving what they know.

Looking at this mural, there is so much information being presented that is satisfying,

seeing every detail in this mural coming together to represent one main idea which is the barriers

that Latinos have as immigrants. Theses issues are so common and empowering that artists such

as Paul Botello wanted to share with the rest of world through symbolism and art. This makes us

appreciate immigrants so much more, being that we do not see the whole picture or struggles of

an immigrant has, because we may not be in their shoes. Being a woman with parents who are

immigrants made me realize that I am the future, and the painting in this wall along with every

person I meet whose parents are immigrants as well. We have to be the light and make these

struggles and barriers worth it.

 Hernandez4

Work Cited Page:

"Muralinfo_wallthatspeakssingsandshouts." Murals of East Los Angeles. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar.

2017.

"The Wall That Speaks, Sings and Shouts." The Wall That Speaks, Sings and Shouts | LA County

Arts Commission. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

Hernandez5
 Hernandez6

Appendix :
Hernandez7