44 pages • 1 hour read
Cristina HenríquezThe Book of Unknown Americans
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary: “Alma”
Alma decides to go to the police and report the incident she witnessed, in which Maribel was sexually assaulted by the white boy, Garrett. She is given a Spanish-speaking officer to talk to, Officer Mora, but Alma is rattled by the lack of privacy and her inability to fully explain the complications surrounding Maribel’s brain injury. Officer Mora tells Alma they are unable to help and that maybe it was a case of rebellious teenage behavior. Alma realizes she should probably just go back home to the apartment but instead gets on a bus to Capitol Oaks, where Fito said Garrett and his family lived.
Alma wanders around the neighborhood of Capitol Oaks looking for the boy’s house and finally finds it. The boy is standing in the driveway, staring at her. Armed with her pocket dictionary, Alma says in the loudest voice she can muster, “Leave us alone” (152). The boy tells her to go home, then walks over and puts his hand, shaped like a gun, up to Alma’s temple and pretends to shoot her in the head. Alma leaves as quickly as she can, afraid to look back.
At home that night, Alma tries to pretend like everything is all right. She thinks back to an early moment in her life with Arturo, when life was easier and romance was possible. Now they feel weighed down by worries about Maribel and the difficulty of surviving in America. Filled with longing, Alma reaches for Arturo and the two are intimate for the first time in a long time. For the moment, Alma’s cares and worries melt away as she finds solace in her marriage.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Mayor”
Celia learns that her sister Gloria is getting a divorce and is disconsolate until Gloria tells Celia that she wants to send some of her divorce settlement to Celia and her family. Rafael refuses to accept the money at first, visibly suffering from wounded pride. But he changes his tune when he learns that Gloria wants to send them $2000. A car, Rafael decides, is what his family needs.
Mayor and his parents go to a used car dealership, and Rafael explains that he is looking for a sports car, something capable but also flashy. They end up with a manual transmission Volkswagen Rabbit, which Rafael drives home at a crawl. While cars honk behind them, Rafael explains to Celia that they will have to be extra careful on the road because if you are Black or brown, you are likely to be pulled over by the police.
Mayor is still grounded and hasn’t seen Maribel for some time. When his mother has Alma over for a visit, he listens to the two women talking and hears Alma say that she thinks Maribel is improving some because of Mayor. On another occasion, Quisaqueya is over visiting Celia, and Mayor gets in a spat with her. Quisaqueya mildly mocks Maribel’s condition and Mayor and Maribel’s relationship. Mayor fires back, telling Quisaqueya that maybe something is wrong with her brain.
Mayor is so angry he decides to sneak downstairs to see Maribel. He tells Alma that his father called off his punishment, and Alma lets him in. Maribel asks to see the Toros’ new car. The two make out inside the vehicle. While they are kissing, Mayor ejaculates in his pants.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Nelia Zafon”
Nelia describes moving to New York City from Puerto Rico. Her ambition was to be a star and dance on Broadway. For years, she crashed at friends’ apartments, waitressing and saving what money she could to take dance and acting classes. Though she went to audition after audition, she found there were limited roles for a Latina dancer and actress. Eventually, she moved to Delaware, where she saved up money to start her own theater. When she wasn’t looking for it, she found love with a younger, white attorney. Though life didn’t follow her initial script, Nelia feels proud when she returns to visit her old neighborhood in Puerto Rico because she “did make it, after all” (179).
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
This section highlights The Dangers of Machismo with its focus on Rafael and Garrett. Rafael clings to traditional symbols of masculinity, to the point that he is almost unwilling to accept money that comes from his wife’s family. For the same reasons, getting a car makes Rafael feels empowered. According to Mayor, owning a car was a childhood fantasy of his father’s. The used Volkswagen Rabbit that they purchase does not fit with Rafael’s fantasy of driving a flashy sports car, and the contrast emphasizes the reality of his life as an immigrant with limited financial means, which he finds emasculating. Rafael is also emasculated by the fact that, being brown-skinned, he knows he is likely to get pulled over by the police and must drive carefully. Meanwhile, as a young white man, Garrett has near impunity. His pantomime of shooting Alma in the head is a symbol of the precarity she faces as an immigrant woman and the power he wields as a white man even though he is the one who has committed a crime.
Maribel and Mayor’s plot arc develops in these chapters. Mayor’s self-esteem gets a boost when he overhears Alma tell Celia that she thinks Maribel is improving thanks to her time spent with Mayor. This thought encourages Mayor first to defend Maribel when Quisaqueya disparages her and then to sneak out of his punishment so he can be alone with Maribel. During their steamy moment in the car, Maribel confides that she feels like Mayor is the only one who sees her. In a similar vein, Maribel connects with Nelia, a new character whose account is detailed in this section. Despite all her efforts to be seen and to make it on the stage, Nelia literally had to create a new stage for actors like herself, young people of color, who are passed over for roles once diversity quotas are met. This shows another side of The Cultural Isolation of Immigrants in America. Nelia’s story is unique in the novel in that she is an entrepreneur and bridges the cultural divide by marrying a white man.
These chapters set up the events that lead to the novel’s climax, particularly, Arturo losing his job in Chapter 19. Though life is difficult for the Riveras with Arturo out of work, they make the best of it and enjoy simple pleasures, like ice skating with the Toros. Arturo wants Alma to relax, to become more comfortable in their lives and in her relationship with Maribel. It seems like Alma is on the road to viewing Mayor as a valuable connection for Maribel, but Quisaqueya’s malicious gossip makes Alma question herself all over again.
