“When I was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago is an autobiography that shows how Negi goes through many changes based on the challenges he faces by moving to new areas where society is different. Whether Negi lived in Santurce, Macun, or Brooklyn, Santiago uses themes such as identity, coming of age, and family throughout the memoir to show his development through his daily struggles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the memoir, identity was something Negi always questioned. He has often tried to figure out how or where he fits into his world, since his world is always changing, undefined, or uncertain. She struggles to find her identity when parts of herself don't make sense. When Negi is young, she begins to question her father, Papi, about what a soul is, concluding that his soul is part of her and that she even notices his soul walking beside her or looking at her. During her school experiences, Negi must constantly navigate a social order that she finds difficult to understand and in which she also struggles to adapt because it is different from the social structure she is used to. The need to code-switch becomes even more evident when Negi moves to Brooklyn and must navigate the tense social fabric of a public school made up of distinct ethnic groups, where she struggles to make friends and find safety. In the epilogue, readers learn that Negi continues to study at Harvard, while at first Negi mourns the loss of his Puerto Rican identity. This juxtaposition of great success with a sense of cultural loss shows that even though Negi ultimately experiences outward success, the challenge of creating his identity is something he will have to wrestle with as he tries to restore his childhood desire to be a "jíbara " with her. American educational successes as an adult. Another theme expressed throughout the book was coming of age. “When I Was Puerto Rican” follows Negi from ages 4 to 14. During this time, his mother demands and expects Negi to grow and mature much faster than his younger siblings. As a result, Negi becomes very aware of how he develops mentally and emotionally. Her family members appear to care little about her emotional development and instead focus on Negi's physical development from a child to a woman. Although Negi is interested in her changing body, she sees Mami's constant refrain of sitting with her legs closed as reductive and unhelpful considering the intense emotional maturation Negi goes through. His physical coming of age is more of a public process than an internal one. Negi's true coming of age occurs in several events: first, when she realizes that she is strong enough to escape Mami's physical abuse, and then when she is accepted into Manhattan's Performing Arts High School, fulfilling her goal of leaving Brooklyn. These events are moments in Negi's life where he gains freedom and independence for the first time in his life and can decide the course of his future, set his own goals and later achieve them. Finally, Esmeralda Santiago uses family as a theme to develop her story. Negi's family, both nuclear and extended, is large, constantly evolving and, at times, fiercely loyal. However, a family isn't always perfectly defined, particularly during times when Negi lives with various extended family members, struggles to understand what it truly means to be a family, and tries to define what family means. In this way, Negi wonders who is his family, who is not and.