Literature Cirlce Blog Response #2

What is the value of family?
The value of family for a lot of people represents the strongest value that one could ever possibly have. As we grow older, we start to realize that family is an essential “item” in our lives that we must hold on as tight as possible. A family that is united will be looking after each other and will always be able to trust every member around them. Some families, if not all, will be willing to sacrifice their own lives for one another. Such case is given in the book, Rain of Gold when Don Victor comes to back to Lluvia de Oro to reunite with his family after more than four years of being away. When his family sees him walking towards the ramada they rush out to greet him with warmth welcoming. Except for Lupe who is a little confused as to call him a daddy or not. “She thought of all the bad things that she’d heard about her father over the years –his gambling and drinking- and thought how he’d left them” (184). At this point Lupe is being a rebellious little girl that refuses to accept that her father is back for good. Is not until Dona Guadalupe explains to her daughter that Don Victor is the man that she loves and she had chosen to be with for the rest of her life. Lupe then realizes that her mom was truly in love with him and that she had to accept that he was in fact her dad and that the value of family that Dona Guadalupe long taught Lupe also included Don Victor in the picture. I also made a connection of having family values with Katie Townsend’s presentation about how the meaning of having a family around has made her who she is, and how the family around her has been the one that is being with her through thin and thick parts of her life. As I had said in the beginning, the value of having a family is an essential “item” for our lives.



How are families unified in terms of moral support?
The more support you get the more likely you’ll be successful. The more support you get the more likely you’ll build a relationship. This is the case of families and moral support. When families share moral support to each other they tend to get closer, like their family relation grown stronger and stronger each day. Families look for each other for support and unity. The book Rain of Gold, talks about family unity and support to each other during hard times. Throughout the story we see scenes where the family gives moral support to each other in order to keep on their journey. In section one of the book Dona Guadalupe’s family gives support to each other to overcome the cruelty of the revolution and the ruling of the Americanos in the mine. They stick together as a united family in order to survive. In section two of the book, as Margarita’s family is heading up North they face tough situations such as not being able to almost keep the family unified. They struggle sticking together but at the end they find themselves giving moral support to each other and then they rise from above to become a unified family again. During section three of the book is the most important one when talking about unified families in terms of moral support. When Don Victor and Don Tiburcio come back from their journey Dona Guadalupe informs Victor that Maria and Esabel had gotten together and she Maria was expecting a child. “Don Victor Stood up erect, staring at Maria and Esabel. But then, instead of becoming enraged, he simply embraced Maria” (190). This particular scene shows the moral support that Don Victor gives the family regardless of what the situation is. This kind act gives the family more unity as a whole. Right after that Don Victor tell Maria that he’s not upset at the situation because he understands that situations are difficult during that time and they do their best to stick together. This clearly shows the how families are more unified in terms of giving each other moral support.