What are the motifs in When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago?

The importance of dreams is a recurring idea in the text. Ramona loves her family but is always in search of a better life for herself and her family. It's important for the reader to realize that these dreams are focused on Ramona's happiness but what is best for her children is never completely out of the equation. When Ramona is working a good job in New York, she still tells her children that they have to do better and that she wants a better life for each of them. Ramona's desire for this better life is such that she's willing to leave all she knows behind, including the man who has fathered her seven children.