Analysis
Last Updated on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 175
Make Your Home Among Strangers follows the classic literary model of a bildungsroman ,or coming-of-age story, but frames it in contemporary discourse about immigration reform and American identity. Lizet and her family are all either immigrants or descended from immigrants from Cuba, and are entangled in a national news story...
(The entire section contains 175 words.)
See This Study Guide Now
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this study guide. You'll also get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
Already a member? Log in here.
Make Your Home Among Strangers follows the classic literary model of a bildungsroman ,or coming-of-age story, but frames it in contemporary discourse about immigration reform and American identity. Lizet and her family are all either immigrants or descended from immigrants from Cuba, and are entangled in a national news story about the fatal capsizing of a raft of hopeful Cuban immigrants. Lizet's mother Lourdes is particularly embittered by the irony that the dangerous voyage was a desperate way of trying to bypass unfriendly, often illusory, paths to immigration set up by the United States. Her political activism borders on fanaticism, setting up a mother-daughter conflict with Lizet as she strives to adjust to the very different world of her homogenous (predominantly affluent and white) college.
Ultimately, Lizet learns that she can both pursue her dreams of becoming a biology researcher and find sympathy and solidarity with Cuban immigrant narratives. The novel therefore suggests that the modern American subject contains a multitude of cultural, ethical, and intellectual affinities that can be synthesized into a productive whole.