Allie, Charoltte, Colin, Isabella

[Allie Giove]

My first reaction to the beginning of this story is that living on the border is a hard life. Even if you are a U.S. citizen you may still get asked where you are from. I can see that it may get annoying and even get some people angry that they will ask you where you are from to make sure you are legal to be in the U.S. I do not think the pretty sights of the Juarez mountains are worth living on the border.

[Collin Brown]

Being on the border of another country, everyone will be asked where they are from. Unlike any other part of the country. The officer mentioned in paragraph 10-25 is different than one from the center of the country because they are going to question everyone that comes near the border.

[Charlotte Cichowski]

After reading most of this story I'm beginning to understand the feelings that this author has built up. I know I would be extremely angry and irritated if I were being asked multiple times if I was legal to be in the US just because of the color of my skin. The only thing that i disagree with about this story is why the author chooses to live there. I understand that he is a writer but there are many other places in the US where he could write and not be asked about whether or not he is legal.

[Isabella Cialfi]

After reading this story, my reaction was that it must be very hard living on the border. I could feel how the main character felt when he was asked repeatedly "where are you from?" I know that if people did that to me that I would get very mad and frustrated. The only thing I did not understand about the story was why the character didn't move some place else if it really bothered him that much that the officers would not leave him alone about where he is from.

[Charlotte Cichowski]

I really like the line on page 25 where Saenz says "I would've melted
that fence. Someone built that fence; someone could tear it down.
Maybe I could tear it down; maybe I was the one. Maybe then I would no
longer be separated." I believe that this quote truly sums up how the
author feels about the border and the people on the outside of it.
This part also portrays great imagery to the reader.

[Charlotte Cichowski]

Another quote that really stood out to me in this book is in the scene
where Saenz talks back to the patrol officers that asked him for his
drivers license, to the point where they return to their vehicle.
Saenz then says "My eyes followed them as they walked back to their
car. Now it was war, and I had won this battle. Had I won this battle?
Had I won?" This quote made me think about if he had actually been
victorious in this situation. He had driven the officers away but
those aren't the only officers in the entire city so technically he
had one this one but there will be many more to face.

On Sep 13, 8:15 am, Allie Giove <allie.giove.ber...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Charlotte Cichowski]

I completely agree with Isabella's statement because I also could feel what Saenz felt when the officers ask him where he is from

[Isabella Cialfi]

A part that I thought showed how much the author hated people asking him where he was from just cause he lived on the border was on page 26. It was when a policeman asked the author if he could see his license and he wouldn't let him see it. Since he would not cooperate and just show it to him, that shows how much he hated it.

[Collin Brown]

On page 24, paragraph 65, it says"I noticed  that he didn't ask Michael where he was from. But Michael had blue eyes; Michael had white skin. Michael didn't have to tell the man in the uniform where he was from"(24). This says that the officer on patrol was looking at skin color more because Ben was from Mexico and had a different skin tone than Michael. The officer didn't bother with Michael just to save him the time. He just said "Go ahead" and went on with his day.

[Charlotte Cichowski]

Allie I really like how you put your last sentence because I also do not think that being asked over and over if you are a legal citizen is worth the beautiful views of the Juarez mountains. I myself would most likely move away from the border to avoid such situations if I were the main character.

[Collin Brown]

After reading the whole story, I can finally realize why Benjamin Saenz choose to stay where he was; on the border of Mexico and Texas. He was able to write a great story about how there are so many different lives living in the area. There are the poor people who live in the area because they can't afford to go anywhere else. There are the really poor people(beggars) who ask for any kind of help that the people are able to give. There are the illegal immagrants who keep trying to go across the border and try to get a better start to their "new" lives. That's why Benjamin choose to stay there. He was doing so great in his career as a writer because he could connect to most of the people that he saw each and every day. The stories that Benjamin writes makes all of us(people away from borders) realize what great lives we have of not having officers asking us everyday "Where are you going" and "Where were you from". Some of us don't realize this but I got a better view of it after reading his novel.

[Collin Brown]

I agree with Charlotte when she said "He had driven the officers away but those aren't the only officers in the entire city so technically he
had one this one but there will be many more to face" because he had to deal with this his whole life and it will never change for him no matter how many times he has to answer the questions.

[Collin Brown]

I agree because I would believe he was getting tired of having all the officers ask him all the same questions but this officer just asked a couple to many questions and he dicided to choose not to cooperate.

 

[Allie Giove]

Something that I noticed the author talks a lot about in the story is the Juarez mountains. I noticed that he keeps making references to the purple of the mountains and how some days they do not look as purple as they were before. I think that this is symbolism for how he is feeling. On page 24 right after an officer stops Saenz to ask him for his drivers license he says "The Juarez Mountains did not seem purple that fall. They no longer burned with color." You can tell that he is getting tired of always being asked where he is from and constantly being asked for identification. I think he uses the mountain color to show how he is feeling.

[Allie Giove]

While reading this story I put myself in the characters shoes. I tried to view what he was going through as something I would have to go through. Reading the constant questions he was asked and the fear that someone was always "watching" him does not make me want to be in his position. No one wants to be asked unessesary questions and the feel of being harassed. I would feel lost and I would want to move away from the border. Throughout the story the character gets asked through many different seasons these same unessesary questions which tells the reader that this is constantly happening even over a time period of a year. If this was to happen to me for this long of a time then I would not feel like it was my home. At the end of the story on page 27, the character says, "I cannot banish their questions: Where are you from? I no longer know." I understand where he is coming from because I would feel the same way if I was in his position.

[Allie Giove]

I agree 100 percent with this statement. I took away from this story that we (people who do not live near borders) are very lucky and grateful to not get asked questions constantly on where we are going and where we are from. I can also see why the author stayed where he was to write stories. He wrote a great story and was able to send a message to other people on the hard lives people live near borders.

[Allie Giove]

I also think this showed him sticking up for himself. He finally put his foot down and was not about to give in to the police officers. I can see where he would get angry when border patrol would constantly keep asking him where he was from. I think it was great that he would not show the police officer his license, because the police officer ended up walking away so ultimately Saenz won the "war" that goes between border patrol and citizens.