His dream was always to break out of his migrant shell and he did. His parents were Mexican immigrants and he was born in Texas, 1935. Tomas Rivera's own history reflects the situation of his characters. Rivera’s story highlights the inequity and poverty of immigrants during this time, but it also points toward a future where things might change. Rivera’s story describes both the pain and pride that the young Jose feels at realizing his community is larger Knowing this gives the boy and his community a bit of hope. It has churches, schools and other standard facilities that Americans too often take for granted. Despite their greater population, the other town has far more wealth. Jose’s census reveals that there are more people in his “town” than in the nearby town where they get their groceries. The camp is on a farm owned by an American. Jose is a fifteen year old boy who lives in the migrant work camp with many other Mexicans. One of the children, Jose, decides to ward off boredom by taking a census (a population count) to see how many people are in their community. They wake the next day and endlessly repeat the same, excruciatingly boring, cycle. When it’s dark, they go to the market and then back to their meager camp to sleep. The immigrants and their children work in the fields, day after day. Tomas Rivera’s short story, “Zoo Island,” describes how Mexican immigrants suffered in the 1920s and 1930s, but it also offers a bit of hope.

Zoo island tomas rivera