Kim Tran

English 100 STACC

Dr. Kuroki
Oct.30, 2014
The American Dream
Brando Skyhorses, The Madonnas of Echo Park, His first debut novel, received the
2011 PEN/Hemingway Award and the Sue Kaufman Award for the First Fiction from the
American Academy of Arthens and Letters.(1) Skyhorse was born and rises in Echo Park.
Echo Park is located near Elysian Park and Downtown Los Angeles.(Kameon) The Madonna
of Echo Park was an attempt, on the authors part, to capture the unique culture, history, and
changing communities of one of Los Angeless neighborhood, Echo Park. It was home to the
Mexicans Americans after the Chavez Ravine, a community, which was cleared. Chavez
Ravine was located in a valley a few miles from downtown Los Angeles.(Kun) It is a tight knit
community that was home to generations of Mexican American. The people within that
community replaced those who were working as day laborer, house cleaners, and bus driver.
Which in turn became one of the citys most gentrified district. However, in the process of fitting
into the community, they had to Americanize themselves in order to be accepted within the
society they were living in. The people were not just willing to deal with low wages or an
occupation as a day laborer but they were also willing to give up their identity, pride and face the
hardships while trying to pursuit the American Dream .The dream that gives rights to each
and every person to pursue happiness, and freedom to strive for better life, may it be through
hard work, to achieve their goals.(Ellis, Kate)

People are constantly trying to pursue the American Dream and they are willing to
sacrifice everything they have. The Madonnas of Echo Park is a book with a handful of
characters, each with their own story. In the first story, Bienvenidos is about Hector, an illegal
Mexican immigrant, who worked as a day laborer in America, he faced an inescapable and life
changing decision. He pointed out how many of other characters in the story, had slipped into
this country like thieves, onto the land that once was ours...[and] run into this American Dream
with a determination to shed everything we know and love that weighs us down if we have any
hope of survival. (1) .In the quote, Hector defined the American Dream as one of the biggest
goal that all immigrants want to pursuit. In order for themselves to fit in they had to become
Americanized. They willing to give up with their identity and pride to work as day laborer with
the pay miserable, and they think theyve rented a slave instead of hired a house
painter.(5).With the low wages they have received the scam from their bosss, but the people
are still willing to do this without hesitation because they wanted to make a living for themselves.
They wanted to live in the American Dream so they are willing to do everything even if its
illegal, just like Hector. He was an illegal immigrant, everything he said and did was mostly lies,
but lying was the only way to protect himself from being deported. Although, in the end he faced
moral dilemmas in which he witnessed a crime where his friend Diego had gotten murdered. The
crime had set him back to think whether or not he had to report it to the police, which would
reveal that he is an illegal immigrant which in result will get himself deported. In the end,
Hector gave up on his pursuit of the American Dream and told the truth because living in
America, he hadnt gained a status and he lost his family. He acquired nothing from all the
sacrifices he made.

Moreover in the story The Blossoms of Los Feliz, the narrator of Hectors wife, Felicia
she worked hard as a house cleaner. She struggled to stay alive in a foreign country with her lack
of English, and saying no to prostitution. Even though her positive mind helped her to get a job,
but not until the tragedy accident that happened in El Guanaco that changed her life. On the day
of the incident, Felicia invited her friends and their daughters to hang out. And all the girls
dressed in their own Madonna-style outfits (47). The significance of this quote pointed out that
these little girls were on their way to become Americanized. They mimicked the way Madonna
because she was a well-known pop star, with property and money. Moreover, they are aiming to
achieve their American Dreams, and pursue a future in which they werent outsider in this land.
However, the happy moment didnt last for long until they decided to go home and Felicia
wanted a picture. She requested Aurora sientate delante de tu madre, por favor, right next to
Alma, so she would be the same height as the rest of the girls.... I dont want to, she said in
English (48). In the argument Aurora responded back in English, not because she couldnt
speak Spanish, but she chose to respond in English, it shows that she was Americanized. It
shows how Auroras life and how she struggles to keep her Mexican identity in an American
country, and she was failed because of her desire to fit in the American Dream. Later in the
story, incidents happen when Alma got shot in the spinal cord and died. The accident caused a
big conflict between the angry of Almas mother and Felicia. Everyone is questioning whether
Aurora was either being pulled down by Felicia to kneel or pulling away from her to stand up.
Nobody believed her, but instead they accused her of using Aurora has a human shield. And she
got fired from her law firm where she worked for four years as a temporary worker. Later on
Felicia got hired by the Calhouns household but she has to act like she is invisible and
inaudible. (33) The reason she has to be invisible and inaudible is because no one in the house

has acknowledged her present or existence in the house. They didnt mind to have anything to do
with her as a wealthy family. Therefore, no one ever greeted Felicia because of her status as a
cleaning lady. Throughout the story, Felicia had gained nothing from her effort; she worked
hard as a clean lady, learning English to fit into the community. But in the end she only gained
hatred from the attention in accident, the failing relationship between her and Aurora and the
state of being treated as invisible person.
Two four and a half hour shifts a day, five days a week, carry 1,000 to 1,200 passengers
daily around the city. Efren Mendoza, a rule obsessed bus driver who is an anti-immigrants and
witnesss racially motivated mob violence during his shift. In the beginning of the story, Efren
was a professional bus driver, who followed all the rules and maintained passengers safety. And
he worked hard to keep his job and make standard living. But he is prejudiced against the
Mexican because they are take advantages of him and say they are his own kind. But Efren never
thought that they were his own kind because they are illegal and they broke the rules in order to
gain benefits for themselves. That why Efren said the American Dream is there for the taking if
you arent lazy and have no qualms about the kind of work you do (77).In the quote, Efren
strongly believed that everyone can pursue the American Dream. If we can put more effort and
time into something; we can become successful no matter what job or dream that we are
achieving. But not until an accident that happened that led to a setback his American Dream.
On his late night shift, a misunderstood fight broke out between the African American boy and a
Mexicans on the bus. Not without knowing the truth, he kicked off the African American boy
because there were eighteen Mexicans on the bus. Then when he pulls off, a pickup truck cut
him off at an intersection causing him to hit the boy who was chasing after his blind spot. After
the accident a crowd was formed and they all got out of control and they were attacking him. But

then he escaped and drove off with the passengers. In the end he had saved the passengers lives,
but he had violated the rule and lied about his testimony. He never contacted the police about the
accident that why there were no record of him calling. Throughout the story, Efren were on his
way pursuing the American Dream, but not until the incident that set him back in his life and
the lied he had told the readers. He said with hard work everyone can pursue the American
Dream. But the truth is not everyone can achieve the American Dream because of the society
they lived in. People will judge and label the races and built barriers between each others. In
order to pursuit a goal, they must overcome all the hardships and learned from their mistakes. In
the end, Efren learn his lesson and slowly overcome the barriers and get closer to achieve his
American Dream.
The book The Madonnas of Echo Park contains many themes and ideas, the most
significant of which, was that illustrated throughout most of the story is the American Dream.
However, each character in the story has their own way of define and outline what they did for
their goal of the American Dream and while they are pursuing it they all struggled through
hardships. They faced the loss of pride, exhausting work and the identity change through the
journey to become Americanized.

Work Cited
(1)"Brando Skyhorse." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Biography in Context.
Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
Ellis, Kate, and Ellen Guettler. "American RadioWorks - A Better Life." American RadioWorks A Better Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.
Kameon, Judy. "Echo Park, Los Angeles." Martha Stewart Living 223 (2012): 24. MasterFILE
Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
Kun, Josh. "Chavez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder." American Music 24.4 (2006): 512+. U.S.
History in Context. Web. 6 Oct. 2014