I’m not sure that I can talk about Ana Castillo’s recent novel The Guardians without discussing The Devil’s Highway, another recent book on a similar topic by Luis Alberto Urrea. Both books – Castillo’s novel and Urrea’s nonfiction – directly discuss the perils of immigrating to the United States via the Southwest border. Castillo sets her work in New Mexico, and tells the story of a family torn apart by the economic, social, and political boundaries that make immigration so difficult for Latino/as. Urrea, however, recounts the story of the death of 14 men who died in their attempt to cross through the Arizonian desert known as the Devil’s Highway. Urrea creates a work of creative nonfiction whereby he presents the results of his investigative research while illustrating what he knows with short vignettes about the lives of everyone involved in the incident (the immigrants, coyotes, Border Patrol officers, consuls, and so on).
Given that The Guardians has distinct and developed characters (four of whom are the book’s narrators), I expected to feel more attached to it than to The Devil’s Highway, but I discovered the opposite was true. The determined and strong Tía Regina is an intriguing figure, yes, and her nephew Gabriel (Gabo) is a tragic one, but I can’t say I formed a strong attachment to either of them or to the other two main characters Miguel and Milton. The disappearance of Regina’s brother and Gabo’s father Rafael during his attempt to cross into the US illegally is tragic, but despite the searching and shock they go through I had difficulty relating to their struggle. It was not until I began reading The Devil’s Highway that I realized that what was missing from the story was knowledge of the broader picture.
This is understandable because Guardians is narrated by characters with a limited viewpoints and knowledge. Castillo does try to inform her readers through the character of Miguel, a high school history teacher, but this and the brief flashbacks into the characters’ personal histories did not illuminate much. For instance, the reason why Regina’s family migrated to the US is implied (poverty), but it is never described. The knowledge of Rafa’s disappearance trying to cross the border makes Regina cry and Gabo turn all the more to his devout Catholic faith, but their inner emotion are not expressed, and their ties to Rafael are never accompanied by any real description of a relationship.
Luckily, The Devil’s Highway put some of this in perspective by giving the bigger picture of systematic poverty, skewed immigration policies, and bureaucratic inanity. The book has a huge cast of immigrants, citizens, smugglers, politicians, and officers, and there isn't room to describe everyone's background – but when Urrea describes something, he does so so poetically that even the smallest bit of information draws you in emotionally. Although Urrea manages to give a broader, more factual, and more emotional "big picture" account of border crossing, but when paired with Castillo’s "little picture" account of the daily life of those left behind, as uncompelling as it might be at times, makes both works better.
I also was surprised to find myself more attached to the characters in Devil's Highway as opposed to The Guardians. It's so true that a view of the broader pictures was missing from The Guardians that might have helped us better understand the perils of the border and the struggles that went on. The fact that Devil's Highway is non-fiction holds incredible weight. Reading a true story has the power to move people in a way fiction sometimes can't.
ReplyDeleteI did find myself attached to Gabo, though. I think there was something about his voice that was distinct, and I separated him from the other voices more easily. He was genuine, kind - truly good person though he was very hard on himself.
I also agree to what you and Mandy have said about the novels. The way The guardians was set up didn't get me connected as much to the characters. I did feel more connected to the characters in the Devil's Highway. Also, Urrea paints good pictures of different aspects of the border. I saw a more vivid picture in his discussions about the struggles of crossing the border. There was one scene that painted a great image of how people could die of heat starting on page 120. There were several stages: heat stress, heat fatigue, heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. These descriptions painted a great picture of what the characters went through.
ReplyDeleteI found myself also attached to Gabo. My theme is on religious identity and Gabo was one of the main characters that showed religion to be the guiding factor in his life. He wanted to become a priest and so I paid closer attention to him as I was trying to connect my theme with the novel.
I also agree that it was easier to connect to the broader picture portrayed through "The Devil's Highway" rather than the narrower scope shown in "The Guardians." Because I did not grow up along the border and have never really been close to a person who has been in a border situation, it was really hard for me to connect with Rafa and Gabo and their struggles to gain citizenship. Like Tavo mentioned, though, Urrea gave very descript images of what the border is actually like, while also explaining the different groups that hold power on both the U.S. and Mexican sides. Some of his images were excessively vivid, such as his explanation of heat exhaustion, but were also very informational.
ReplyDeleteGreat job of showing how The Guardians and The Devil's Highway complement each other in educating readers about border issues. Urrea's narrative does have a gripping immediacy that really shows us what the crossing is like. Castillo's novel emphasizes what happens to the people left behind.
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