Crossing the Wire

After reading “Crossing the Wire, I found myself thinking of all the different struggles and emotions one must go through in trying to find something better, especially for a 15 year old boy. Victor, the main character, shows so much determination throughout the book that made me think about how hard am I willing to work? He goes through so much in order to want to help out his family. He tries to cross the border and ends up getting kicked off a bus,  hopping a train and trying to make it through the desert but gets caught and deported and yet tires again. Even with the first time he hears all of these rumors of what America is like and either how scary it is or how great it is.

He becomes friends with many acquaintances and they are what keep him hopeful. One important companion was Miguel. He did all he could to help Victor learn what it means to travel back and forth… even after he had no desire to help him in the first place. One conversation that I think gave Victor hope was the one about the states.

[Victor] “What is it really like in the States?”

[Miguel] “You’ll have to see for yourself. It’s impossible to explain. It’s so different, it’s like another world.”  

[Victor] “Is it good? Is it bad?”

[Miguel] “It’s both.”  

This conversation stood out to me because it gave Victor a hope of what to look forward to; a chance to make a difference for his family. It struck me to find out that many of the characters in the book were wanting into the states in order to help make money for their families. They do not have as many opportunities to work and the options they do have do not pay as much. It is interesting to think about, maybe give a new perspective.

“It is, if you are willing to work hard. In the states, it’s possible to start from the ground and reach the top of the tree.” Miguel is talking about opportunity if you are willing to work for it. It was interesting to me to hear about Miguel’s friend Hector and of his life. He grew up in America but as not born there. He went to school in America and played football in high school. He had no other home other than America and yet because he was not born in America he was deported. It made me think of how I would feel if I had been taken away from all that I knew. I mean I moved my senior year in high school with out much of a choice and I still have no idea how that would feel. I was taken away from friends and family but to think that Hector was taken away from everything he knew and sent to a place that was not his home where he had never grown up. That would be scary.

The struggles this 15 year old boy faced is incredible and I could not even imagine giving any kid that much responsibility. I do not know many 15 year olds that could handle it.