Essay Questions

What is the significance of dog fights in the novel? Are they symbolic of anything?

The dogfights are a metaphor for how Tomas sees his world, a literal application of the adage “…it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there…” It is also indicative of the environment that has shaped him; having grown up in such a rough neighborhood under such unfavorable conditions even his entertainment choices become as rough and as brutal as the community he was raised in.

How is the theme of race relations related to the theme of isolation?

Ika, Gabe and Tomas’ mother is the focal point of this particular discussion. Ika has never learned how to speak in English and this severely limits not only her work options but also her interactions with society, effectively isolating her from the rest of their community. Her inability to converse in English doesn’t only keep her poor and isolated but it effectively paints her as a target for insults and taunting from the less charitable members of society as she is unable to understand anything but the simplest of commands and as a result unable to retaliate to insults.

Is the novel a social commentary or modern tragedy?

The novel reads as both as it speaks about the lives and struggles that migrant families experience as they attempt to integrate into the new society that they find themselves in. More than that however it also reads as a modern tragedy as the main characters seem to be incapable of freeing themselves from the cycles of poverty, violence, and crime.