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The Harvest: Short Stories
This collection of myths and parables deal with such issues as love and betrayal, alienation, humankind and nature, and death and resurrection
136 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1989
4 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Tomás Rivera
15 books25 followersTomás Rivera (December 22, 1935 – May 16, 1984) was a Chicano author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and had to work in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through education—gaining a degree at Southwest Texas State University (now known as Texas State University), and later a PhD at the University of Oklahoma—and came to believe strongly in the virtues of education for Mexican Americans.
As an author, Rivera is best remembered for his 1971 Faulknerian stream-of-consciousness novella ...y no se lo tragó la tierra, translated into English variously as This Migrant Earth and as ...and the Earth Did Not Devour Him. This book won the first Premio Quinto Sol award.[1]
Rivera taught in high schools throughout the Southwest USA, and later at Sam Houston State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. From 1979 until his death in 1984, he was the chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, the first Mexican American to hold such a position at the University of California.
Contents
Biography
Early years
Rivera was born on December 22, 1935, in Crystal City, Texas, to Spanish-speaking, migrant farmworkers, Florencio and Josefa Rivera. At eleven years old, Rivera was in a car accident in Bay City, Michigan. After the accident, Rivera decided to write his first story about the wreck and called it "The Accident".[2] In an interview with Juan D. Bruce-Novoa, Rivera explains: "I felt a sensation I still get when I write. I wanted to capture something I would never forget and it happened to be the sensation of having a wreck".[3] Rivera continued writing throughout high school, creative pieces as well as essays. He dreamed of being a sportswriter as an adult, inspired by what he read most, sports articles and adventure stories.[4] In the same article, Rivera explains the reality of growing up with ambitions to be a writer in a migrant worker family. He explains that "When people asked what I wanted to be, I'd tell them a writer. They were surprised or indifferent. If people don't read, what is a writer?". His grandfather was his main supporter though and provided him with supplies and encouragement.
Rivera worked in the fields alongside his family during summer vacations and often missed school because of the overlapping work-season. At the beginning of every school term, he had to catch up on missed material from the preceding year. The family labored with many other migrant workers in various parts of the Midwest: they lived and worked in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota.[5] Rivera worked as a field labourer until 1956; at this point he was enrolled in junior college and the school would not permit him to miss class.[2] This signified the end of his migrant working days and the beginning of a new life.
The first-hand experience Rivera had from growing up as a migrant worker provided him with writing material for his literary works. His novel ...y no se lo tragó la tierra is semi-autobiographical and is based around the migratory life of a young boy. As Rivera grew up in the late 20th century, he discovered some of the difficulties Chicanos faced as lower-class Mexican descendants. While trying to get published, Rivera encountered some racism; this was mainly because his writings were in Spanish, thus restricting his audience.[6] The unjust and frustrating situation faced by many Chicanos motivated Rivera. He understood that the only way to get ahead in life was through education. Rivera graduated with a degree in English from the Southwest Texas State University in 1958 and taught English and Spanish at secondary schools from 1957-65.[7] He strongly believed that post-secondary education was the only way Chicanos could evolve from migrant work. He worked in public schools until he could further his education at the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with a PhD in Romance Languages and Literature in 1969.[7]
As an author, Rivera is best remembered for his 1971 Faulknerian stream-of-consciousness novella ...y no se lo tragó la tierra, translated into English variously as This Migrant Earth and as ...and the Earth Did Not Devour Him. This book won the first Premio Quinto Sol award.[1]
Rivera taught in high schools throughout the Southwest USA, and later at Sam Houston State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. From 1979 until his death in 1984, he was the chancellor of the University of California, Riverside, the first Mexican American to hold such a position at the University of California.
Contents
Biography
Early years
Rivera was born on December 22, 1935, in Crystal City, Texas, to Spanish-speaking, migrant farmworkers, Florencio and Josefa Rivera. At eleven years old, Rivera was in a car accident in Bay City, Michigan. After the accident, Rivera decided to write his first story about the wreck and called it "The Accident".[2] In an interview with Juan D. Bruce-Novoa, Rivera explains: "I felt a sensation I still get when I write. I wanted to capture something I would never forget and it happened to be the sensation of having a wreck".[3] Rivera continued writing throughout high school, creative pieces as well as essays. He dreamed of being a sportswriter as an adult, inspired by what he read most, sports articles and adventure stories.[4] In the same article, Rivera explains the reality of growing up with ambitions to be a writer in a migrant worker family. He explains that "When people asked what I wanted to be, I'd tell them a writer. They were surprised or indifferent. If people don't read, what is a writer?". His grandfather was his main supporter though and provided him with supplies and encouragement.
Rivera worked in the fields alongside his family during summer vacations and often missed school because of the overlapping work-season. At the beginning of every school term, he had to catch up on missed material from the preceding year. The family labored with many other migrant workers in various parts of the Midwest: they lived and worked in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota.[5] Rivera worked as a field labourer until 1956; at this point he was enrolled in junior college and the school would not permit him to miss class.[2] This signified the end of his migrant working days and the beginning of a new life.
The first-hand experience Rivera had from growing up as a migrant worker provided him with writing material for his literary works. His novel ...y no se lo tragó la tierra is semi-autobiographical and is based around the migratory life of a young boy. As Rivera grew up in the late 20th century, he discovered some of the difficulties Chicanos faced as lower-class Mexican descendants. While trying to get published, Rivera encountered some racism; this was mainly because his writings were in Spanish, thus restricting his audience.[6] The unjust and frustrating situation faced by many Chicanos motivated Rivera. He understood that the only way to get ahead in life was through education. Rivera graduated with a degree in English from the Southwest Texas State University in 1958 and taught English and Spanish at secondary schools from 1957-65.[7] He strongly believed that post-secondary education was the only way Chicanos could evolve from migrant work. He worked in public schools until he could further his education at the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated with a PhD in Romance Languages and Literature in 1969.[7]
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 6, 2016
Personal response
I liked this story but I didn't like the kids who started rumors about the old man. I don't like other people talking trash about other people they don't know. He was a lonely man who liked to be alone and that isn't anyone else's business but his own.
Plot
This is a short story about a man named Don Trine. He is a migrant worker from Texas. He is a bachelor who lives all alone. Everyone thinks he is rich because he doesn't have a family to spend his. Only on. He starts to go for walks out into the fields all by himself. Some kids start to spread rumors that he is burying his money or maybe he has found a treasure or something. They decide to follow him and all they see him doing is digging holes in the ground and putting his arm into it. They are disappoint and lose interest in him, but one boy decides to try it himself and he discovers that he can feel the earth move and he gets why the old man does it too.
Characterization
Don Trine is an old migrant worker, most people don't understand him. They think he is strange or maybe he is hiding something from them. There is also a group of boys in the story who start rumors about him. When they discover he isn't doing anything fun they stop watching him. Only one of the boys decides to try digging holes for himself and discovers why the old man does what he does.
Recommendation
I would recommend this story to older people. Most younger people wouldn't understand why anyone would want to feel the earth. I think the older people would understand the importance of knowing the earth.
I liked this story but I didn't like the kids who started rumors about the old man. I don't like other people talking trash about other people they don't know. He was a lonely man who liked to be alone and that isn't anyone else's business but his own.
Plot
This is a short story about a man named Don Trine. He is a migrant worker from Texas. He is a bachelor who lives all alone. Everyone thinks he is rich because he doesn't have a family to spend his. Only on. He starts to go for walks out into the fields all by himself. Some kids start to spread rumors that he is burying his money or maybe he has found a treasure or something. They decide to follow him and all they see him doing is digging holes in the ground and putting his arm into it. They are disappoint and lose interest in him, but one boy decides to try it himself and he discovers that he can feel the earth move and he gets why the old man does it too.
Characterization
Don Trine is an old migrant worker, most people don't understand him. They think he is strange or maybe he is hiding something from them. There is also a group of boys in the story who start rumors about him. When they discover he isn't doing anything fun they stop watching him. Only one of the boys decides to try digging holes for himself and discovers why the old man does what he does.
Recommendation
I would recommend this story to older people. Most younger people wouldn't understand why anyone would want to feel the earth. I think the older people would understand the importance of knowing the earth.
Displaying 1 of 1 review