The Book of Unknown Americans

In this section, readers first meet the Riveras and witness their attempt to adjust to American life. So much is jarring to them—the weather, the language, the food. Alma also constantly worries about Maribel, who doesn’t seem to process where they are or why they have come. The novel also introduces the Toros—Mayor, Celia, and Rafael. Mayor is enraptured with Maribel at first sight but senses that something is wrong with her. When he learns that she is going to Evers, the special education school, he understands her more and remains curious about her.

This section also contains exposition concerning the lives of Rafael Toro and Benny Quinto and how and why they immigrated to the US. It is clear from their first-person accounts that Latinx immigrants are not a monolith. Rafael was seeking safety for his family, whereas Benny was looking for greater economic opportunities. Rafael’s life in the US has been squarely on the right side of the law while Benny has had to engage in illicit activities in order to pass off the cost of his passage and forge a new future for himself. Arturo provides a contrast to both Rafael and Benny’s stories, as his family lived a comfortable life in Mexico and emigrated to find better educational opportunities for their daughter. This highlights the fact that some immigrants are willing to risk financial instability—Arturo now works on a visa for less than minimum wage—to access resources their home countries lack. Even when this is done legally, as in Arturo’s case, immigrants still face precarity because their status can change at any time.

An important structural and thematic element of the book introduced in these chapters is polyvocal narration. This literary device highlights The Cultural Isolation of Immigrants in America. The format of the book, in which many narrators relay their experiences, allows the reader to get better insight into the identity of these “unknown Americans.” This is not simply Alma’s story or Mayor’s. Instead, the novel examines the ways in which these immigrant families overlap and how they depend on one another. The short chapters in which minor characters relate their life experiences illustrate the reasons these individuals had for leaving home—for work, for safety, for family, or to chase a dream.

This section also relays an important event, the 1989 US invasion of Panama, which provides the historical context for the Toros’ emigration. Often, the circumstances that people from Latin America are fleeing are left out of mainstream immigration narratives, making the motivations behind Latin and South American immigrants leaving their home countries unclear. The US invasion of Panama also sheds light on how the US is sometimes involved in the circumstances that make Latin American countries unsafe for their residents. The invasion, called Operation Just Cause, took place during George H. W. Bush’s presidency, and its aim was to depose the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who engaged in drug trafficking and political corruption. Noriega had been an ally of the US, but this changed when he overturned the results of Panama’s 1989 democratic election and became an ally of the Soviet Union. Though the invasion brought a stable democracy to Panama, the UN condemned the invasion because it took a high toll on civilian lives. This backdrop emphasizes the theme of The Myriad Forms of Trauma that immigrants experience even before they arrive in the United States.

The final main theme, The Dangers of Machismo, is established in these chapters through Rafael’s insistence that Celia not work even though the family needs the extra income. His insistence on traditional gender roles makes life in the US more difficult for his family and puts extra pressure on Mayor, on whom he places unrealistic expectations. This foreshadows the difficulty Alma faces in gaining support after Maribel’s white classmate, Garrett, sexually assaults her.