40 pages • 1 hour read
Luis Alberto UrreaInto the Beautiful North
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 16-18 Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
The Camaronians and Candelaria walk for a while into the night; unbeknownst to them, they are still walking along the fence. Because the dark obscures their vision, they almost deliberately walk into a Border Patrol truck. Atomiko puts on a "warrior" show and then jumps back over the fence. The capture of the group is quite anticlimactic. As they are driving back, the agents stop and watch two other guards severely beat a boy. Vampi and Yolo began to cry.
Chapter 17 Summary
The story’s narration shifts to Arnie, the Border Officer that Nayeli was admiring and reveals his point of view about his job and the realities of the border. He processes Nayeli's paperwork and laughs heartily at her story of finding warriors. He gives her a few treats from the vending machines and puts her back in the holding cell.
While the Tres Camaronians commiserate over their awful fate, Tacho soothes them by telling them to think of home. He particularly misses “La Mano Caida”. He speaks too loudly, and the guards misunderstand him. They think he said "Al Qaeda" and he is jumped. The girls are immediately rounded up and shoved onto a bus and are transported away while Tacho is arrested.
Chapter 18 Summary
The Tres Camarones girls, back in Tijuana, run into Atomiko and get a hotel room to bathe and rest. Once Nayeli emerges from the hotel room, she calls Aunt Irma and tells her the whole story. Nayeli tells La Osa that she wants to find her father, and Irma's thoughts reveal there is something that Nayeli does not know about her father, but she refrains from telling her anything because Nayeli will follow her heart anyway. The girls will try crossing the border again and this time, try to contact missionary Matt. Irma reminds Nayeli that they want Mexican men, not Americans.
After the phone call, Nayeli sees Wino sitting with Atomiko. He feels "bad" for their circumstances and makes a deal with them to get them to the "hole", but they must not talk of it to anyone. He claims it is "guaranteed".
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
The surreal atmosphere established in the previous section is very much gone. The groups’ capture is just a regular day of work for the border guards and this bored and bitter attitude comes directly through Arnie’s character. It can be assumed that switching the narration provides a more full perspective of the realities of the border; however, for Urrea to introduce a new character by providing him with his own thoughts, suggests that he may be a more important character to the story as a whole.
The political climate of the United States is not just limited to the angst towards illegal Mexican immigrants. Tacho’s violent apprehension illustrates the hypersensitive attention to other illegals – in this case, those of Middle Eastern heritage. Because Tacho is darker-skinned and a Border Guard thinks he says “Al Qaeda”, he is immediately suspected to be a dangerous terrorist. The whole situation is potent with absurdity. Nayeli’s illusion, that she is “here as a service to both of our countries” is ultimately destroyed and her quest is mocked (139). It is a clear juxtaposition of grand illusions and harsh reality.
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By Luis Alberto Urrea
