Humanization and Dehumanization Theme Analysis

While Enrique’s Journey features stories of worthy people who express care and compassion for the human needs of migrants, the book also does not shy away from describing the dehumanizing circumstances that Enrique and others must confront. Nazario’s interest in finding a single story to illuminate the debate surrounding immigration policy in recent decades shows her commitment to humanizing immigration studies. In the prologue, she discusses her reconstruction of Enrique’s journey in order to give a full picture of the trials that he had to face. One way that Nazario portrays the humanity of the characters is by showing them in all their complications. She does not absolutely praise anyone nor does she judge the people she meets for their mistakes. Enrique at times deserves praise for his persistence and at others, criticism for his negligence. Illustrating a full picture of him, Nazario displays his humanity.

As Nazario strives to humanize these characters through her writing, she also points out the constant dehumanizing situations that they encounter. On the route from Honduras to the United States border, migrants confront countless threats, from physical danger to psychological harm. Many of them are caused by other people who have no respect for their humanity and no reservations about degrading others. Women migrants are especially dehumanized, unable to escape the grasp of sexual assailants. The police are also described as treating migrants without humanity, hunting them down like animals. Nazario portrays INS officers as equally bloodthirsty and cruel, following migrants’ trail until they capture them. Enrique’s Journey can be read as an attempt to restore the humanity of illegal immigrants – who have otherwise been stripped of it – in order to show the complications of these immigrants’ stories and open up the conversation about how to ameliorate the situation on all sides.