Antonio
has his first day of school. Before leaving, his mother makes him kneel
for a blessing from Ultima; all the family join him in kneeling. When
Ultima places her hand on his head, he feels a great force, like a
whirlwind. Ultima tells his mother that he will be a man of
learning, which is what she most desires. Antonio walks to school and
finds it much bigger than he had expected. He feels afraid. A kindly
red-haired boy named Red shows him to his first grade teacher, Miss
Maestas. He tells her that he cannot speak English. She writes his name
out in a book and he then sits in a corner of the room and copies it out
many times. By noon he can write his own name. But the other boy and
girls laugh and point at him, especially when he eats the lunch of hot
beans and green chile that his mother packed. In contrast, the other
children have sandwiches with bread. Antonio sneaks out the room to eat
on his own. He is almost in tears and feels like an outcast. He wants to
run away and never come back. But then meets two bigger boys, George and
Willy, who are also from farms, and he forms a bond with them.
Analysis
In
the broader context of the coming-of-age story, this chapter serves as
an initiation scene. It is Antonio's first separation from his
parents, and his first day in school is a difficult one. There are hints
of class divisions and perhaps ethnic divisions also between the
children. Antonio finds out that the world beyond his home is not always
a friendly place.
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