Essay Questions

What is the significance of the novel’s title?

The title of the novel is a reference to the author’s childhood experiences growing up in a poor rural community in Mexico. The author is the titular Barrio Boy living in Jalcocotan, an impoverished village along the Pacific coast of Mexico. The title frames not just the living conditions that he grew up in but the narrative voice that is used, that is to say, told through the eyes of a child tempered by the sensibility of an adult as he experiences the chaos brought about by the Mexican Revolution and the resultant uprooting of his entire family.

What does America symbolize in the novel?

America isn’t written as a the proverbial “Land of milk and honey” but rather the closest geographically, and definitely more stable politically as compared to their native Mexico. One state within America however does standout and that is the state of California. It still possesses much of its rugged charm and the allure of freedom and stability that was simply absent from the Mexico that the author and his family had fled from. It is this state specifically that they seek out as it could be thought of as a low-hanging fruit with regard to their family’s objective of escape from a corrupt government system and the opportunities it would provide for the family.

What or who is the main antagonist in the novel?

The antagonist in the narrative isn’t a the Mexican government per se but rather the systemic corruption that had affected nearly all aspects of life in their country and the resultant poverty it produced. The author was blessed with a naturally sharp intellect and an aptitude for writing and leadership but because of the lack of opportunities caused by the aforementioned reasons he and his family would have been doomed to a life of rural drudgery. The solution therefore wasn’t to work within the system but to abandon it entirely.