Stolen Childhood

Cajas de Carton was extremely touching for me. It was interesting to see how life was as a migrant worker through a child's eyes. His lifestyle was different than many of the children that are alive today. Instead of going to school, he had to work and leave his studying for later in the year. He also had to live under such terrible conditions, something which I noticed right off the bat. I remember the descriptions of the place where they were living - an old garage, much closer to a small shack which was already dilapidated and old. Only a few of the characters were able to sleep on the inside of it anyways on a small mattress while the others were forced to take up space outside and under a tree.

When our main character was describing his working conditions, I was surprised and also felt quite sad for him. The water that he was drinking was dirty and he had to work so hard that even his muscles were hurting. I know that I am very lazy and would not be able to deal with work like he did. To top it off, he was only in the sixth grade, making things a bit more extreme. I was shocked to find out his true age and did not like the fact that he was so young and yet he had to help his family work in order to make a living. He could not live like an ordinary child.

Instead, he was used to moving around a lot - hence the title. I was curious about the title at first since I had no idea what the cardboard boxes would have to do with anything. However, it was obvious that he had to keep moving and he had to continue his work and helping his family to survive. It was sad because the second he got close to someone he would have to leave, his attachments meaning nothing in the end. I would feel so alone and I am pretty sure that he must have felt his heart break in the last scene just like I did.