Chapters 6 and 7 from AGDD

In Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, we see two different situations: in one, there is Hector Seeman, the music teacher whose opera works were not appreciated by the Mexican people. Hector stayed in Tijuana, despite the lack of interest that the people there had in opera. He went off in poor health to live in a shack on a hill, embittered by the Mexican people. In the other situation, there is a group of immigrants from Atolinga, a small town in Mexico. The immigrants go to Chicago with the intention of building nice homes in Atolinga with their earnings. Some find the American dream in entrepreneurship and have great success. They decide that they like the life in Chicago better, and decide to live there permanently. They do return to their nice homes in Atolinga, but only to visit.
I view the situation in Hector's scenario much worse than that of the people of Atolinga. As a matter of fact, I don't see anything wrong with what the people of Atolinga did. They could not make a decent living in that small town, so they decided to get out and strive for something better. That is what people have to do: they have to adapt. Hector did not adapt. Hector should have either gotten together with other people (such as Enrique Fuentes) in order to establish opera in Tijuana, or gone somewhere else where his work was better appreciated. Enrique Fuentes went about things the right way. He kept trying, and did not get discouraged when the owners of buildings did not rent him space. His dream of opera in Tijuana eventually became a reality, largely due to him.
I have seen many people in the situation of the Atolinga immigrants. Here in the Nashville area, there are communities of people from small towns in Mexico. Some of those towns are Degollado (Jalisco), San Felipe (Guanajuato), and Puerto Escondido (Oaxaca). These towns are no bigger than Murfreesboro, but it is surprising to see just how many people are here in the Nashville area from just these three towns. It usually starts with a family, which tells other family members and friends back in Mexico how good things are here. They come to the United States, and their families and friends get them jobs through connections. Many people come with the intention of working a few years, building a nice house in Mexico, and returning to it. I have seen many people do this. For example, I have some friends that have been saying that they would return to Mexico for years, yet have not done so. They have built a nice, big house in their hometown, but have a hard time leaving here. Their children have adapted to life here, made friendships, married, and had children. It is extremely hard for them to leave their children behind. I can only imagine them returning to Mexico if some kind of immigration reform is passed. I have seen many more that never built a home in Mexico. They have decided to buy homes here instead. I believe most immigrants that come here come with the intention of returning to Mexico, but those plans change as opportunities arise and relationships are established. Another problem with returning is that many people that stay behind in Mexico and live humbly in the small towns are envious of those that have built nice homes and drive nice cars. Also, I have seen some immigrants go to Mexico saying that they would never return. Most of the time, they come back after a few months. They have become adapted to life here, and could not leave their relationships here behind permanently.
I strongly believe that if a person cannot find opportunities in their hometown, they have to leave and look elsewhere. Even in Tennessee in some of the rural towns, people that stay in their hometowns are destined to work the rest of their lives in the local factories, choosing from a handful of low-paying jobs available. Some of them do not even have high school diplomas, much less college degrees. The availabilty of a college degree is unobtainable in those small towns. If they are happy with that, that is perfectly fine; but others find themselves "stuck" due to family and friends. Hector Seeman was stuck for some reason, and lived miserably in an isolated, run down shack due to his disappointments and failures. He should have gotten out and found something better.