“Boy Without a Flag”

In the story “The Boy Without a Flag” by Abraham Rodriguez Jr., the boy named Abraham struggles throughout his life in order to stand up for what he believes in. He refuses to stand up for the pledge of allegiance and stand up for his Puerto Rican rights. But instead of being praised he dealt with many consequences including being called rebellious. The Flag in the story represents the freedom that the boy is trying to attain. He denies standing up for the pledge of allegiance because he does not believe in it and decides to be loyal to his country. I think the boy is a good American because Americans are supposed to stand up for what they believe in and Americans have a choice in what they decide to believe in. The boy says, “Why should a Puerto Rican salute the American flag?”(pg20). This shows how Abraham believes he should not be forced to salute the American flag and he is right Americans are free and should be able to decide to salute the American flag or not. The narrator did the right thing because it is his choice whether he wants to salute the flag or not and he should have the choice to believe in what he wants. The narrator has an American dream to have freedom and have the choice of what he has to do and what he believes in. I think this was a very inspirational story for many people who have dealt with similar issues as Abraham. It teaches you to stand up for what you believe and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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