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Perspective Discussion #3
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30/03/2026 9:10 am
In the TedTalk What’s missing from the American immigrant narrative, speaker Elizabeth Camarillo talks about being an American immigrant and how being on her own helped her and helped her family later on in life, “But being able to have that self-control is sometimes the only way that we are able to help those around us.” (Camarillo) so she wanted to tell people it is okay to make the decision to go off on your own to benefit your life and others around you.
In the novel Out of Nowhere, the character Saeed is an immigrant from a country completely taken over by warfare, he travels with his family but oftentimes he is minding his business staying out of things that could get him in trouble, “‘I, uh, always play.’ He shrugged again. As if the outrageous soccer he’d just demonstrated on the field was no big deal.” (Padian 6) I like this quote a lot because it shows that Saeed is just in his own lane, not over the top even though he is outstanding and easily the best the school has ever seen at soccer. In the end he and his family get away from the discrimination in the town from Saeed being his own person.
Does the character in your novel benefit from being alone? Are they often alone, or do they always have support from someone else?
07/04/2026 9:48 am
In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, the main character, Oscar, is often left by himself. Depending on where you are in the book, this is good or bad. Near the beginning of the book, when he’s younger, he benefits from being alone as it lets him write his novels uninterrupted, “...Nene Inca, let him be. Allowed him to sit in the back of the house as long as he wanted, didn’t insist that he should be ‘out in the world’” (Díaz 31). But later in the book when Oscar is older and left by himself, his thoughts turn dark and he tries hurting himself, “Reviewing his miserable life. Wishing he’d been born into a different body… before he could lose his courage, he threw himself down into the darkness” (Díaz 190).
14/04/2026 11:30 am
The book The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon is about two teenagers in New York City named Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Bae. Natasha is a practical, science loving girl whose family is being deported back to Jamaica. She doesn’t believe in fate or love–she believes in facts and logic. Natasha is spending her last day in New York trying to find a way to stop her family’s transportation. Daniel is a Korean American boy whose parents immigrated from South Korea. His parents want hom to become a doctor, but Daniel secretly wants to be a poet. Natasha is trying to save her family, Daniel has an important college interview that could decide his future. Natasha and Daniel meet by chance in New York City. Daniel instantly feels a connection and believes it’s fate. Natasha doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but Daniel challenges her to spend the day together to see if he can make her fall in love with him using science. The character Natasha Kingsley knows she is different from the people around her because of the way she thinks about life and love, which is completely different from her peers. While Daniel believes in fate and destiny, Natasha has her roots in science and facts. As the day goes on, Natasha and Daniel spend more time together, visiting different places around the city and having deep conversations about their lives, families, and beliefs. Even though Natasha is determined to stay logical and not get emotionally attached, she slowly begins to feel something for Daniel. Daniel, on the other hand, becomes even more convinced that their meeting is not just a coincidence but something meant to happen. Natasha continues her mission to stop her family's deportation, holding onto the hope that something will change. At the same time, Daniel struggles with the pressure from his parents and begins to question whether he should follow his own dreams instead of the chosen path from his parents. Natasha finally reveals that her family is being deported that night to Daniel, and it creates tension between the two, as Daniel feels hurt that she didn’t tell him sooner, and Natasha is overwhelmed by the reality of her situation. Their time together begins to change both of them. Natasha starts to question whether love and fate could be real, while Daniel begins to confront the pressures his parents have placed on him and what he truly wants for his future. They form a strong, emotional bond. As Natasha’s deportation becomes unavoidable, the hope that things could work out starts to fade. Daniel, who has been trying to prove that love can change fate, realizes that he can’t fix everything. Despite their quick connection, they’re forced to face the reality of Natasha having to return to Jamaica with her family. At the airport, their goodbye is painful and unresolved. Both of them are changed by the experience of meeting each other. Natasha, who didn’t believe in love, had felt it for the first time. Daniel, who believed love could solve anything, learns that life is more complicated than that. After Natasha leaves, Daniel struggles to move on but eventually begins to accept what happened. He chooses to pursue writing and poetry instead of following the path that his parents had planned, showing how Natasha influenced him to be more true to himself. By the end of the book, further into the future by a few years, Natasha and Daniel meet again in New York City by chance. Nastasha isolates herself for the sake of keeping her goals of protecting her family the only thing in her mind and never lets herself deviate from that goal. In the beginning of the book, Natasha relies on being emotionally independent. She trusts in logic, science, and in herself rather than others because it makes her feel safer and helps her cope and protect her from being vulnerable, “Still. You couldn't fault her. Not really. My father had been dreaming his life away for years. He lived in those plays instead of the real world. He still does. My mother didn't have time for dreaming anymore. Neither do I.” (Yoon 208). By the end of the book, her new connection with Daniel shows her that relationships can bring meaning and joy, even if they're temporary, being open to others doesn't make her weak, and emotions are just as real and important as logic. She doesn’t benefit from being alone, it only protects her, not fulfills her. In the TedTalk "Why children of immigrants experience guilt--ans strategies to cope," Sahaj Kaur Kohli explains that when a child of an immigrant grows up with different opportunities and the ability to grow, they experience guilt because their family wasn't able to have access to said opportunities, “Many children of immigrants feel a chronic sense of guilt for letting their parents down, for not being enough…for seeming ungrateful. There's also this sense of a thriver's guilt or this guilt for growing, healing, accessing resources and opportunities that maybe our parents didn't have or our family and other parts of the world don't have access to. So many children of immigrants may have grown up being responsible for their parents as well.” (Kohli). Natasha feels responsible for protecting her family, and doesn't allow herself to reach out and connect with others for the sake of coping with her vulneralbility.
