Parents Influence

Maria Munoz

19 March 2015

English 1B

Poem Analysis         

Parents Influence

We often search for self worth in the wrong places. We could start by looking for acceptance through our friends, strive to gain love from our family, or sometimes even just by improving our self imagine. In “Martin & Meditations on the South Valley,” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, he shows us the various hardships Martin went through since the beginning of his childhood. At a young age left abandoned, and sent to an orphanage, he yearned for the love he never had. Not truly having somewhere to belong, he set out to find inner peace and search for a better future. 

        Through out the first half of the series Martin’s tone sounds very soft. As if he were still a child telling the stories of how he was raised. The background his parents had gave his life the destination he would choose; to either live as they did, or embrace it and better himself. Without having a mentor, or even someone to support and encourage him, Martin was his own motivator. “ I still had my dream for a better life, and yearned for it” (Baca 38). Besides everything, he strived for himself, to prove to himself he was an overcomer.

        At the age of only 10 Martin ran away from the orphanage, and started to earn his own money. This young boy, with a limited amount of family, just left the only place he called home. When thinking about him, and the thoughts that crossed his mind we’re left thinking, “You were safe and secure at the orphanage, why would he leave?” In reality the kids that are not adopted by the ages of 6-10 are thought to have no future; that they’ll stay there until adults. As I’m sure Martin analyzed these things, he thought about leaving, and actually trying to make something of himself. He was not just going to let time pass, let himself grow older, and feel worthless.