When was the last time you thought about your family tree? The advancement of technology has an internet site where you can put in a name and like magic your ancestry is listed for you. Is it important for us to know our family tree? Will the knowledge of our ancestry affect our lives positively or negatively? Does t set the precedence of who we are? In the short story “La Promesa” (The promise) by Guy Garcia, I feel that the main character, Tom Cardona, exemplifies my belief that nurture can affect nature. The story begins with his grandmother showing him a picture of a woman whom she stated was an old friend, She wanted to know how her childhood friend was doing after so many years. She asked Tom to travel to Mexico to find out. Tom promised her he would one day. “I told her that no matter what happened I would never forget her.
I will not rest in peace until I know what has happened.” Years passed and Tom lived the American dream, a wife, children, a two car garage and he was a registered republican. “After all he was an American, the son of an American born and raised.” He has all the wealth, material possessions and status of a true American. The story tells us about how Tom “cringed” whenever he thought of Mexicans. “You wouldn’t see him with his hand out for welfare.”. He considered his ancestry to be just a part of his history. He was noted stating that as the blood line progressed his Mexican heritage would be unrecognizable and who would care. “Until it didn’t matter where you come from or who your grandparents were, that was progress, the American Way.”. His grandmother died persisting from the grave to have Tom visit Mexico in search of this woman she called her nanny and childhood friend. The price of $30,000 was offered in exchange for answering a question that the dead could not hear.
The Essay on Tom And Lily People Story Elderly
Most people are kind to strangers. For example, they might be willing to return a purse, or perhaps take two lost people into their home. Or, in some cases, you would keep a secret or something about the others' lifestyle, to yourself. All this is seen in the short story "Searching for Summer" by Joan Aiken. In this paper, I intend to prove to you that the above statements are true. In the story " ...
The story concluded with Tom finding the answer to his grandmother’s question and leaving him empty with no answers to his own. He found out that he lived a lie; his grandmother was not biologically his grandmother. The things he desperately tried to distance himself from was staring him in the face. While in Mexico Tom saw a family driving a Mercedes, and he smiled in spite of himself. “The thought of rich Mexicans stirred something in him; a twinge of pride that said brown skinned people could drive German cars.” We are the product of our environment. Our values, morals, feelings of self-worth and any lack thereof is noted in our rearing. If I was raised to hate the skin I’m in, it wouldn’t matter if later I found out that my ancestry is rich in royalty. If I am raised and instructed through my youth that because of what I look like, the world is my oyster and all others who do not resemble me are less deserving.
It wouldn’t matter if later I found out my ancestors were slaves, or begged for food. It is good to know your family history for knowledge sake it doesn’t and shouldn’t affect the persons we are. Tom Cardona was raised to despise the skin he was in, He believes the more things he has make him more American and less Mexican. He believes that his children will continue this goal. Finding out that he came from less than the best was a reality check. Knowing my ancestry, the struggle and the accomplishments of my family will reinforce the teachings of my youth. My parents taught me to believe in myself, to value education and to realize that life has built in obstacles and challenges. My personal values, beliefs, morals and a strong sense of self is the foundation for who I am.
