Antonio & Delfino #3

Chapters 6 and 7 tell tales of people searching for their dreams. It often seems that while striving to meet a goal or obtain your life long dream, one must encounter great obstacles and heartache. In the case of Hector Seemann, his passion for music never yielded success or recognition from his country. In the case of the immigrants in Chicago, they struggled to find a balance between life in America and the desire to return home to Mexico. In my opinion, Hector Seemann's situation is worse.

Hector, like many musicians, was poor, slightly insane, and his talent was not recognized during his lifetime. He devoted his life working for the government run school system, and spreading his love of and enthusiasm for music. In return, he desired support from the government he worked so hard for to aide his own musical endeavors. He never received any support. Although it is questionable how talented he actually was, or how persistently he lobbied the government for money or support, the fact is that he died alone, poor, and with an unfulfilled dream. He felt abandoned by the country he devoted his life teaching.

The Chicago immigrants, like Chon Salinas, found success in the American restaurant business. When they first began to reap the benefits of their new found entrepreneurship in the US, the dreamed of returning to their home towns in Mexico. Because of this dream, immigrants like Chon built elaborate houses in their home towns in Mexico in preparation for the day they would return home to live. During their stay in America, many of the immigrants became involved in community organizations, and their children became involved in the school system. This rooted the immigrants in America. Many now felt more at home in America than in Mexico, and most of their family members also resided in the US. For these immigrants, I think they felt extremely ashamed to admit that they no longer wished to return to Mexico, and felt they were betraying their country by feeling more at home in America.

When comparing these two situations, Hectors is definitely more painful. He never made his dream a reality, and felt abandoned by the country he worked so hard for. The immigrants realized their dream, but struggled with the feelings that they abandoned Mexico for America. The immigrants were able to cope by organizing public works projects in their home towns and making contributions. Hector did not cope, and died alone and bitter.