Essay Questions

Why is Nayeli portrayed as the heroine in the book Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea?

It is evident throughout the book that Nayeli is courageous, confident, tactical, resilient and adventurers. Despite being a woman, she is dedicated and motivated to lead others. She surpasses the western cultural norms that leadership is reserved for men. She fights for her community tirelessly. She is not fearful of arrests and deportations as long as her primary objective is attained. Towards the end, the reader realizes that Nayeli achieves her objective of strengthening her community despite going through many challenges and obstacles.

How does the theme of family betrayal depict itself in Into the Beautiful North?

Nayeli risks her life to search for her father in the United States of America in the State of Illinois. She breaks the law because she enters the USA illegally. Her father left Mexico some years back but did not update the family on his well-being and progress. When Nayeli arrives in Illinois, Mary Jo aids her to locate her father. To Nayeli's astonishment, she finds her father with another wife and a child. It is a shocking reality because she did not imagine that her father could have an affair behind the back of her mother. Therefore, Nayeli's father betrays the family by having a secret affair and abandoning his first family.

What is the symbolic meaning of the proverbial tunnel which Nayeli uses to access the United States from the Mexican Border?

The tunnel used by Nayeli represents the change in the realities of life from one place to the other. Nayeli is Mexican but wants to enter the USA with all means but she does not have a valid visa. Therefore, if she crosses using the Border route, she is likely to be arrested and deported. Therefore, she decides to use the tunnel which connects to a building in the USA. However, the realities of life in the USA are different from her expectations. However, she remains courageous and decides to do everything possible to locate the lost spirit of her father. She is perhaps happy to meet her father but unfortunately, she faces a rude reality when she finds out that her father abandoned them and married another wife and they have a child.