Kyle Dethloff
LA7-1
Ms. J
1/13/10


The Challenge for a Young Migrant Boy

What would you do if you had to move all around the country? In Francisco Jiménez’s short story, The Circuit, there’s a little boy named Panchito. His family has to move all around the country looking for jobs during the harvest seasons. Since he has no friends besides his family he doesn’t have a very active social life. This is what Panchito’s daily life is like. Panchito’s life is not like a regular schoolchild; instead he has a very difficult life to live as a young boy.
The regular schoolchild’s has lots of things that Panchito’s family doesn’t have. A typical schoolchild parents work an 8 hour day but Panchito’s parents have to work sun up to sun down. Panchito’s parents barely get paid so that means that they can’t afford a house. When they move around they would bring their car and their large pot. Panchito’s Dad nicknamed the car “Carcanchita”. The car and Mama’s cooking pot symbolize the family unity. So when they go to a town near Fresno, they would bring all of that.
When Panchito and his family went to a town near Fresno, they found a man that had work for them. The only place they could stay was in an old and disgusting garage. Every time the school bus came by they would have to hide so that they couldn’t see them. But finally one day Panchito got on to the bus and went to school like the regular school children.
This constant moving, sometimes going to school and sometimes not, beginsthe plotline of a tragedy, the conflict Panchito is a part of. Panchito should go to school but he can’t because his family are migrants. As the plotline moves on, Panchito rises to power because, one day, Panchito goes to school and meets a really friendly teacher that gives him some extra help, since he doesn’t know English. However, the tragic flaw occurs when the family has to move again. Panchito and his help are interrupted because once again he has to move to another farm. The tragic flaw makes Panchito losses his only friend, and his trumpet. This completes the Tragic plotline.
These are just some of Panchito’s daily struggles. But he still manages to get through life. What would you do if you were a migrant family? What would you do if you had to keep changing schools and losing friends?