In your childhood, you must have heard the saying “choose your friendships well”. Maybe you ignored it, but you must know that it is important. In the story “Looking for X” by Deborah Ellis, an eleven-year old girl called Khyber lives in a poor house, and has a friend called X, who is wanted by the secret police, helps Khyber to vent the anger and envy she has for the popular and prettiest girls who are spoiled by the school. On the other hand, in the short story “Inside Out”, by Fransisco Jiménez, a poor non-English speaker boy in the US enters school in January and has difficulty making friends. Both Fransisco and Khyber have opposite reactions toward conflicts and the relationships they have in different moments, but they both are brave for facing complicated situations.
Both Fransisco and Khyber act differently toward conflicts in school at different moments. At the first moment, Fransisco and Curtis had a bad relationship, because they fought for a Jacket while Khyber and Tiffany, who had an argument, mainly because Khyber is envious of Tiffany. But in the second moment, Fransisco turns to Curtis’ friend, because he gives Curtis his first-prize drawing. On the other hand, neither Khyber or Tiffany wanted to be friends, so they kept a conflict by pulling each other backstage of the school presentation.
Both Francisco and Khyber act differently toward relationships they have in different moments. Artur is Fransisco’s only friend, because Arthur knows a little Spanish. They played and talked, and according to Francisco, “During recess, he and I played on the swings and I pretended to be a Mexican movie star (…) and singing the corridos we often heard on the car radio.” That shows that they not only share their language, but also their culture. On the other hand, when Miss Scalapino is close, Arthur avoids Francisco, because Miss Scalapino gets really angry if she hears them not speaking English. Francisco does not always interact in a good way with Arthur because of Miss Scalapino, as Arthur avoids Francisco, so he feels bad for not being together with his only friend in the school. In contrast, in Looking For X, Khyber and X always had a good relationship, because as I said, it is good for Khyber because she vents anger and envy and it is good for X, because Khyber is her only company, since she is wanted by the secret police. Khyber’s relationship with X is always good, but Arthur’s relationship with Fransisco is bad when Miss Scalapino is close.
Both Francisco and Khyber are really brave for facing their complicated situation. According to Francisco, “Roberto was the only one in the family, including Papá and Mamá, who had attended school” and “It was late January and we had just returned, a week before, from Corcoran where my family picked cotton. We settled in “Tent City,” a labor camp owned by Sheehey Strawberry Farms located about ten miles east of Santa Maria”. That shows that Francisco lives in a tent, his parents are migrant workers, and no one in the family (except for Roberto) had been alphabetized. Similarly, Khyber lives in a really poor house with a single mother (Tammy) and two autistic brothers (David and Daniel). According to her, ” one day, I will be rich enough to eat as many plates as I want”. That also shows us she is poor and she shares the attention from the mother ; it also suggests that she does not have a lot of friends. Although they face really complicated situations, Fransisco faces it by trying to have friends in school (Arthur and Curtis) and Khyber by trying to find a refuge on X, so she can vent everything and relax. Francisco moves frequently, so he has difficulty to adapt to the places where he lives, and he is brave because he tries to make friends although he does not have good conditions at home.
Francisco and Khyber are courageous for fighting against their bad situation, while their conflicts and relationships are not always the same. Fransisco had a bad relationship with Curtis at the hirst moment, but he tried to fix it. On the other hand, Khyber and Tiffany never wanted to be friends. Fransisco’s relationship with Arthur is normally good, but when Miss Scalapino is close, they don’t get together, but Khyber’s relationship with X is always good, because X gets company and Khyber can vent what she feels. Both Francisco and Khyber fight against their situation, as Fransisco fights against the poorness of the family by being the second person in the family to go to school. Khyber fights for her mother’s attention, as she has two autistic brothers that demand a lot of attention. From both the short story “Inside Out” by Fransisco Jiménez and “Looking For X” from Deborah Ellis, we can learn that our conflicts and relationships can be different, but we all need to fight to overcome whatever situation we go through. Have you ever heard people say that: “never settle, always go beyond.” That is really important for our lives and both Francisco and Khyber show that to anyone that reads these stories.
