Family is very important to the author, so it makes me think that family is important to Hispanic culture. Even extended family members are close in the story. It also seems like the author has a strong sense of family history. The author’s ancestors are remembered by passing on their names to the children. Hispanic heritage has always been a big part of the author’s life. Some parts of it, such as having to introduce her big family to her friends, embarrasses her. But it’s her family and her Hispanic heritage that supports her and helps her deal with the challenges of being an immigrant.
After reading the essay "Names nombres" written by J. Alvarez, we can learn how difficult it is for a family of Spanish origin to maintain their names and traditions within a totally different culture like that of the USA, especially when that family comes from a country considered to be "third world", seen as inferior and often shameful and devalued. This affected the way Alvarez saw her own identity, associated with her and her family names. These names were pronounced so differently by the Americans, it seemed that they were erasing the Latin origin of it and imposing an Americanized and more "normal" version.
In this essay, Alvarez approaches her youth as a Latin immigrant in the USA. It shows how difficult it is to live between two cultures and how it affects various elements in people's lives.
One is , "My name is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings" another is, "<span>My mother's hair...is the warm smell of bread before you bake it."</span>
