Chicano written by Richard Vasquez is a novel that shows how the American culture affects the Mexican society as well as many other societies in our community. The Sandoval family migrates into California knowing that they have a chance to start their lives over and they want more than what Old Mexico had to offer. America is into consumption, and the Sandoval family was bombarded by it. They were aware of the fact when they arrived in America, but in Mexico they were not aware of the other cultures and traditions out there. The Sandoval family was content with what they had in Mexico. But upon arrival they realized that the more they step into the American culture, the more they want. One can see the detrimental effects of American …show more content…

Angie wants to get out of the gender role. Angie and Julio choose not to have children, which is not traditional in the Mexican culture. She separates her self from the traditional wife. She does not want to lose her life to children. Along with Angie leaving so does Pete.
Pete now lives his life with his wife and kids. Pete over does favoritism and this cause Sammy to be looked down upon. “When you take them the first time, make sure you tell the teacher how smart Mariana is and not to expect too much from Sammy”(205). Sammy has no expectations placed by the family. He ends up with an addiction to heroin. We see that his school and teacher influence him; they believe that he needs a little extra help. He ends up involved in the wrong type of group but they help him feel safe. As time moved on and as Pete become wealthier from his construction business, they moved to a white neighborhood. Here Sammy did not receive a good education and was shunned upon by teachers and students. At his school there was no support system for him to fall back against as cushion. Sammy felt as if it were twenty times as harder. Thus causing him to make bad decisions. Difficult situation make people, do bad things if it is necessary to do so.
Mariana is considered the special one in this story. Her family helps her every step of the way. “By the way, I don’t want to raise our kids to think the oldest son is favorite. It’s bad custom… I want her to feel