Looking for Work

“Looking For Work” In “Looking for Work”, Gary is a 9 year old Hispanic child who wants his family to be more like the traditional white family that he saw in a TV show. For example, on pg.29 "The father looks on in his suit. The mother, decked out earrings and a pearl necklace, cuts into her steak and blushes.” After watching this scene on TV, Gary wanted his family to be like the family in that show. He saw the happiness in the TV family as they ate dinner and wanted his own family to feel that same feeling. In addition, he later compares his family to that of the TV family. On p.29, "Our own talk at the table was loud with belly laughs and marked by our pointing forks at one another." He grew up learning differently that of another child who grows up in a traditional nuclear family. A television star named Dan Wilcox once said, "I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich." In many instances today, one can cite the happy families or the modern day Leave it to Beaver families and see how this may be true. In the cases of Gary Soto in his piece Looking for Work, his family was defined by race and income rather than happiness and being a cohesive unit. Each member of the family played a particular role that helped shape the author, almost as if acting a part on television. Through their unique experiences growing up, Soto demonstrated that growing up in their families at that particular time, envy was the great motivator. There is a lot foreground culture built into this story. You know from the story that this young boy lives in a pretty okay neighborhood and that isn’t Beverly Hills but it seems to be a okay area. He goes and does odd jobs for the neighbors and he seems to be accepted by the adults. You know he is a Mexican - American and he is spiritual. The boy is kind, sharing and concerned for the welfare of others. A few things I found interesting is that he never spoke of his father and what he did for a living, just