Question: How is Juan Salvador’s fait...

Literature Circle Blog Response #3

Question: How is Juan Salvador’s faith changing?

Answer: As a young boy Juan Salvador’s faith in God was
stronger because he had his mother next to him and she had a big influence over
his beliefs. Unfortunately as Juan got older and his situation drew him away
from his family he became a stronger and smarter person; although his faith in
God was lost the day he had cross the border. His faith in God started to diminish
when he had to go through the sandstorm, and other tough situations that made
him believe that God did not exist. His mother had some control over him when
she was with him, but the moment he got away from her his faith started to
decrease because he did not see a good thing come from God and he did not help
him when he needed him the most. As Juan had to live the desperation of getting
out of jail and having to be far from his family he had to endure and become a
hard hearted person. When he escaped out of jail and lived with Duel and
Katherine Juan learned and was turned into a new different person. In some way
Juan forgot about his people, which I say because in chapter thirteen he says
that he felt weird speaking Spanish and on chapter fourteen Juan had forgotten
that Mexicans were nothing in the U.S. Indeed Juan learned how to speak good English
and Greek and other tricks that could save him later on in his life, but at the
“whorehouse” where he worked he was taught nothing but how to play poker. Juan
had forgotten about God and everything that was in his mind was how to get
money; although his face in God was lost, he still preserved a last bit of
faith in his family. He was close to lose it, but when his sister Luisa tells
him “Our family, our blood, our dreams-these are the reasons that we’ve been
struggling all this years; not money (pg 230).” This quote proves that indeed
Juan was giving the fight for money but his mother and sister opened his eyes
and made him see that he was wrong that instead of fighting for money he should
fight for his dreams and family. Luisa told him this because she wanted him to
stay by her side to help her with their mom and her kids, I think that it was
not so much the help she needed but it was the warmth of having her brother
next to her. He was the only man left in the family and so he was supposed to
be the head of the family. Juan was thinking about going back to Montana but
his sister’s word moved him so much that he thought to himself “For a man, a
real macho, to be on his own was to be rooted to the earth with his balls, his tanates, with the blood and flesh of his
familia (pg.230).” This shows that he
beliefs that he does want to be with his family because if he does not stay
with them then he will not be a real man. This also returns his faith in his
family because whatever he does now will be for his family’s benefit and not
just his.