The message of the fashion industry is that in the clothes you wear, have the power to make people respect you. Clothes can build an image of money and power. Unfortunately not everyone can afford the expensive things in this world. In “The Jacket” Gary Soto focuses on a jacket he had to wear. Which symbolized for him poverty, and lack of self-confidence. His family’s poverty is seen when the narrator talks about the jacket being so hideous and big that he knew that he would be wearing it for a very long time. The narrator tells us how he was embarrassed and angry he was because the jacket was so ugly because he blamed his mother for being cheap and having terrible taste. Soto feels the jacket makes him look foolish and also makes him very uncomfortable around his friends. Since this makes him uncomfortable, he assumes that what he wears makes his identity. Growing up can be difficult because everyone is different. Not having the appropriate clothing or the clothes you want can be a big disappointment, especially when you don’t have enough money to afford the things you want. Soto believes the jacket caused shame and loneliness in many years of his life. Self-destruction is also a symbol for the jacket, which lets Soto develop the character in the story. The narrator felt as if the jacket was messing his life up. When he shows anger towards an object, it also shows his anger within himself, he realizes that he cannot and does not want accept the person people seem him as with the jacket. Another way that the jacket is used as a symbol for poverty is implicit when a dog in the story tears the jacket, it makes the jacket look even worse than it did before. The fact that the narrator could not fix the torn part of the jacket can show that his family is struggling to afford money for themselves. The jacket symbolizes the thing that changed Soto’s life. He was viewed as different person, as a result the jacket was more than an