John Gutierrez-- final essay

Living with poverty in New York, it does not get you until you are fully matured, and that is when you understood the situation. One passage that is similar to my situation is in Ernest Gaines’ story, “ The Sky is Gray” because there are certain times where I can relate to James. I was the first-born child of my mother, and it was hard times for her. These hard times remained me of the scene where James was hungry but his mother had no money to give him. After reading this passage, I learned that we should learn from others’ experience because it can better adapt us to an environment that we are presently in or about to face.
My mother is a strong and beautiful woman who wants the best for me. When I was younger, her body kept on getting weaker, so this forced her to stay home and raise me with little money on the table. The situation got more complex because of my baby sister; more food, clothes, and attention. Since I was growing up and my sister was receiving so much, I wanted thing that I saw others have that I did not. All that pressure sank my mother because she had to deal with my needs, my sister, other family members, and herself.
Even though she faced all of this at one time, she had time for me. She gave me all she could and had food on the table with a roof over our heads. She did have help from other people, and it told me that she was very sociable with everyone because of the number of people who would call her or come if her were sick or hurt. All she told me was, “Get an education because I want you to live a better life then what you live now.”
As the years go by, I have matured, and so now I understand the situation that we faced, not only my mother, but my family. Soon I am going to college, and I know I have to do my part in it, yet I know that my mother will give her support for me. Still I cannot stop to think about how I acted when I was younger because it would not reflect the person I am today. Back then I would ask my mother for money so I could eat Mc Donald’s or some pizza when I saw that she cooked food for me. This is something I know would never help my mother because she would lose money both on the food she cooked and the money for me to go eat outside. Nonetheless she gave me the money, yet I did not feel guilty because I got what I wanted.
It was because of her kindness and generosity that when she gets ill, I am the one who sends her to the hospital, I am the one who stays that night, and I am the one who visits her each day to see her. That was when I had to grow up and watch myself and maintain myself with the money she gave me. With that little money she gave me, it opened my eyes because this was how we really lived. I had to learn the difference between need and want.
In “The Sky is Gray”, James is an African American boy who lived in the south. At the time, James had a toothache. Even though the mother had barely any money, she took him to the dentist. When he got to the dentist, it was full, and it was for colored people. As time went on, James never got his tooth checked, and he was cold and hungry. Knowing that there was little money that his mother had, he stayed quiet. Even though they passed through several food stores, mostly whites, he never said a thing.
To compare James and me, you need to see the difference. First you need to understand the difference in the times. James lived around the 1950’s and 1960’s, and my time period is the early 2000’s. Therefore the difference is that James faced segregation and poverty, while I just faced poverty. Segregation is the one difference, but it is the major gap between James and me. As a result of living in the Jim Crow South, James was more mature at a young age because of all the awful treatment he and his mother received. That is why to be mature at that time was a must if you were to survive. Personally I never went through what colored people went through, so I was never forced to act mature.
However our mothers had little to work with and had to maintain a family. Both mothers think about us because in James’ case, he had a toothache and his mother took him to the dentist, while my case was over food, yet she gave me the money. Still both our mothers gave us what we wanted or needed. Now I can see that we must not focus on ourselves because there are those who give up what they have for our needs or wants.