Themes
Education
Marcos wants to go to school and his parents want him to go too. They pay for rental room in order for him to continue his school. However when he is involved in a fight the manager of the school talks argues about the necessity of giving education to Mexican people. He talks on the phone and says “They need him in the fields.” Like many of the other white people he does not think that Mexican kids need education, they will end up working in the fields anyway. Whether he finished the school year and whether he is expelled or not is vague in the story. The importance of education is emphasized in one part the characters says that the people who are not as poor as them have much more things to lose but they do not have much to lose, thus they only have the possibility to get better.
Memory and Dream
The story is told from memory, the opening of the story says: "That year was lost to him." The story goes back and forth in the past and there no mentioning of the present. The dream and memory unite and the stories evolve from them. When remembering the past one can not remember all the details and the memories start to have gaps. These gaps are filled.
Naming
Marcus faces with stereotypes in school and health center of the town. The white boys in the school look like they dislike or pretend that they do, thebody scent of Marcus, as it is shown in the film. They bother Marcus in the restroom. A boy calls him "Mex" and say that "I don't like Mexicans because they steal. You hear me?" They put stereotypical labels on Mexicans in public this way. There is also another naming of the Mexicans, people call them wetbacks because some have to pass the river to arrive to United States territory.
Usage of names is important in the book, that in the book Marcus and his family members' names are not mentioned. Only his brother's name is mentioned, however he does not exist in the story he is only talked about. This is a reference to their nonexistance in the American public, it symbolizes their lack of character and power among the mainstream society.
Usage of names is important in the book, that in the book Marcus and his family members' names are not mentioned. Only his brother's name is mentioned, however he does not exist in the story he is only talked about. This is a reference to their nonexistance in the American public, it symbolizes their lack of character and power among the mainstream society.
Voices
The stories are told with 1st person and 3rd person. There are multiple voices telling the stories. The story is told in omniscient narration however the chracters' mind states and feelings are not talked about much. It is as if there is a person who witnessed all of these incidents and talks about them. That storyteller is Marcus, he identifies himself with other characters and probably puts all the stories together in his mind and blends them together. In "A Prayer" it is the mother talking, praying for her son. Also in the part named "When we arrive" we hear multiple voices of other immigrants talking. In the last part "Under the house" Marcus thinks about the past and the things that he, his family and the people he knows went through. He thinks these in stream of consciousness and identifies himself with them all.
Stereotyping
The Mexican Americans are stereotyped and called "wetbacks." There are prejudices about them that they are all ignorant and unintelligent, they smell funny and that they are thieves. The white kids in the school seem to be disturbed by the scent of Marcos. In addition, in the part "The Night Before Christmas" Doña Maria, who have anxiety disorder and agoraphobia decides to go to buy some toys. She grabs some and goes out without paying for them however she did not mean to steal the toys. She is "caught" and dragged on the ground an treated with violence. The security guard says: “Here she is… these damn people, always stealing something, stealing.” The teacher’s attitude towards Marcos is not negative however she seems surprised when she sees the eagerness and intelligence of this boy. She has a prejudice against him, however she is open minded and is able to understand that her prejudice does not have a base.
Surreal Elements
The track of time is lost for Marcos and the year that is mentioned about is defined as “lost year.” The things that he remembers get lost in his mind or he begins to lose the connections between them only to create new ones. He is in a state of sleep and dream while thinking about these incidents. During a time of rage and sadness Marcus curses God and he sees a hallucination, the earth opens up like it is going to swallow him. Even though he wants a solid evidence of God or Satan, in order to believe in them he still has fear in him. That causes him to hallucinate. In the last part, “Under the House” when Marcos is caught under the house by the owners, the woman talks about him saying that he must have lost his mind, he was losing track of the years. In the book the audience does not witness time passing or does no see the characters growing. Years might have been passed and Marcos might be older at that moment. In the film he looks the same, which contributes to the surrealism theme.
Tragic Stories of Families
There are many tragic stories about different families and people. When the workers were not provided for water the children could not endure the heat and went to the water by the tank. The boss noticed a boy going and wanted to scare him because he would not pay the workers who give such breaks. He grabbed his rifle ending up shooting him in the head. Exploiting them is not enough for him, he wants to exploit the workers more and more, not caring about them at all, seeing them as expandable. Marcos’ brother is also a tragic story. He is most probably killed in war and it is probable that the officials did not bother to inform the family about his death. The death of his relatives from tuberculosis is another tragic story. They live in bad conditions, that’s why they catch illnesses and they can not get proper treatment because they are poor.
Community
Throughout the film and the book the community relations and the stories about different people in the Mexican immigrant community are told. The narration is communal in a way, it does not pertain to one individual and one family only. Marcos is the voice of the community.
Questioning God
Because of the events that happened around Marcus, he lost his belief to God and he was questioning the existence of God. Their life conditions and shortage of money, led his family to pray and pray everyday. But according to Marcus, nothing changed so he started to interrogate the existence of God.