Being a part of a group of people often fulfills basic needs such as food, shelter and education. However, children and young adults from South American ride the deadly trains even though they receive the basic needs, but look for emotional needs from their parents who were separated from them. The emotional needs such as affection, recognition, and acceptance gave people reasons to part from their homes in order to find their loved ones in the United States.
Many of the characters of the book had their emotional needs threatened throughout the book such as Enrique and Maria .
Enrique was looking for acceptance from his family in Honduras. In elementary school, he often acted as a delinquent in class because his anger came from his mother leaving him in his childhood. His grandmother wanted to kick him out of her house due to his constant drug use which led him to his uncle who finally accepted him. His uncle trusted Enrique with bank deposits and gave advice to him. However, his uncle passed away when he was robbed during an exchange of money. Enrique lost his emotional need for acceptance from his family which led to his journey to the United States.
Maria's emotional need of affection was threatened throughout the book. At the beginning of the book, Enrique left her in order to go to the United States. She lost her first love of her life and does not know when she will be able to see him again. After Enrique left her, she had a daughter who she loved. This became her source of affection in Honduras but it was threatened once again. Years after Enrique left Maria, he tells her to come to the United States to come live with him. However, she would be leaving her daughter in Honduras which is a vicious

cycle of abandonment. This time both the mother and the daughter had their emotional needs threatened when the mother and daughter source of affection is gone.
The emotional need for recognition affected Enrique throughout the book. In his childhood, all he wanted was for his mother to comeback home and acknowledge him. Since his mother was stuck in the United States all she