Literature Circle Blog Response #2

Question: What qualities, conditions or circumstances create the need to sacrifice within a family ?
Response: I think that the circumstances that leads to sacrifice within a family is when there is love and respect for each other. If you have those two foundations in a family, I believe that you or any member in your family is willing to sacrifice anything to get the family by. If you have love in your family you think about the others and how they are feeling and how they are dealing with hard situation and have compassion for them. And if you have respect you sacrifice choosing your self to give up everything you have to see your family triumph . For example, in chapter ten part two of Rain of Gold, Dona Margarita and her family have been under circumstances that have challenged them to question and doubt how strong their family really is. Dona Margarita cannot take it any longer that she decides to go into town and see if she can “work” for some money to feed her children. Dona Margarita sacrifice her self to go in to the town and beg for money so her family can at least have food in their stomach and not spend another day with the pain of an empty stomach. This was a sacrifice I believe, because it took a lot for her to stoop so low in order to get some money. She had to deal with the belittling comment of the towns people the embarrassment of people staring at her with disgust. But since Dona Margarita has that love and respect not only for her family but her self it made the need to sacrifice for her family a task that needed to be done, with respect and love, for them.


Question: What it the value of family?
Response: I really don’t think there is a concrete answer for this question. I believe that the value of a family varies in everyone. There’s different people In the world that to them their family is all they have, all they know. To others they never had the opportunity to have a family or never the less experience the feeling of love that a family gives. For example in the book Rain of Gold , Lupe stand up for what she’s values in her family. Lupe stand up for the lies Rose-Mary was saying the first day of class in front of her classmates, about Lupe’s family. Lupe corrects Rose-Mary by saying that she might not have a lot but what they have is what makes them a happy family. So for Lupe the value of her family might not be having all the riches and luxuries as Rose-Mary has, but the value she values is the love in her family. Another example from the book to show contrast on what family value is how Juan Salvador another character in the story views his family. In chapter ten section two, Emilia and Juan Salvador find out that their mother has become a beggar in order to provide the starving family food. Emilia has this image in her head that they as a family are becoming gente sin nombre, people without a name. As Juan tries to stay optimistic he later come to realization that they indeed are becoming people without a name. The value Juan Salvador’s family use to see in his family was faith, honor, hope and the pride of being descendants of Don Pio the great founder of Los Altos. But slowly its drifting away from what use to be the value of their family. The value of family, I think has many different answers but for me the value of a family is knowing your family has a meaning in this world.