IDENTITY AND EXCHANGES
1.This document is the cover from an American magazine. Business Week. It was published in August 2005.
2.On this cover we can see a man, in the foreground, in the middle. The cover has 2 parts. On the left side the man is carrying a bundle/a trash bag and is dressed with what seem to be clothes suited for the country/for farming , while on the right he is wearing urban clothes /streetwear and holding shopping bags.
The background is also divided. The desert is depicted in one section, whereas in the other we can see a pleasant neighborhood /the suburbs.
At the top of the cover we can read 'Embracing Illegals'
3.So we might suppose that the man is an undocumented immigrant who is crossing the border between Mexico or another American country, and the USA.
The title raises the issue of the way the USA react to, or welcome this immigration wave which has lasted for quite a long time now.
We can imagine that this man has fled Mexico because he was poor/needy /destitute. He certainly was underpaid or unemployed. Now we can see he seems to be well adapted to the American consuming society. He probably is better off than previously in so far as he spends quite a lot of money. Therefore /consequently we could assert he has made the American dream come true, which is metaphorically depicted on the picture with the contrast of darkness and light, this latter alluding to a brighter future This success though might have come with some hardship.
Indeed we know that such changes in your lifestyle and environment can entail some consequences.
