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 19-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 19 Summary: “Alma”
Arturo unexpectedly loses his job at the mushroom farm. He scrambles to find work within 30 days so that the family’s visa will remain valid. Alma tries to make do with their reduced food stock, making rice and beans day after day. The three of them go to a nearby pizza parlor to celebrate Arturo and Alma’s anniversary although they can only order water. They attempt to stay in good spirits, and Maribel surprises her parents with her renewed capacity to tell jokes. No job offer arrives in 30 days, and the family becomes undocumented.
An ice storm prompts the Riveras and Toros to go ice skating together. They all pack into Rafael’s new car, shouting their plans out the car window to Quisaqueya, who looks visibly chagrined at being excluded. Alma is nervous throughout the outing, mostly about Maribel, whom she momentarily loses sight of. Arturo convinces Alma that Maribel is fine, safe with Mayor, and coaxes Alma onto the ice to skate with him.
Shortly after, Quisaqueya arrives at their doorstep, saying that she has information that she needs to convey to Alma and Arturo. Quisaqueya tells them that she saw Maribel and Mayor alone together in Rafael’s car. When Arturo seems undisturbed about the news of their kissing, Quisaqueya tells them she noticed that Mayor’s pants were wet.
Chapter 20 Summary: “Mayor”
Rafael loses the job at a local diner he has held for 15 years. The diner, which had been open for 45 years, went under because of the recession. Rafael confides over dinner that he feels his prospects are bleak because he didn’t work hard in school and only has experience in food service, both in Panama and in Delaware. Still, he goes looking for jobs everywhere, but to no avail.
Mayor, meanwhile, tries to reconnect with his friend William, whom he has unintentionally ignored during his courtship of Maribel. The two make plans to go to a movie, but when Mayor gets home from school, he finds his mother waiting for him, furious. She repeats the story that Quisaqueya told the Riveras and informs Mayor that he is once again grounded and not allowed to see Maribel again, ever.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Jose Mercado”
Jose, who is Puerto Rican American, (as is his wife, Ynez), describes his life of travel. Because he was determined to see the world and experience adventure, Jose joined the Navy. He served in Vietnam and was later deployed around the world. While he was away, he and Ynez wrote countless letters to one another, and Jose read poetry chapbooks. Now that he is older and his vision is poor, he listens to books on CD and loves to hear Ynez read poetry to him.
Chapter 22 Summary: “Alma”
Alma notices how sullen Maribel is since her parents ended her relationship with Mayor. Alma wakes Arturo up at night to ask if maybe they made a mistake. Alma thinks that if it weren’t for Maribel’s injury, they might be willing to let the relationship endure. Arturo tells her that it is foolish to focus on what choices they might make if Maribel were her old self because that Maribel is gone forever. Alma is devastated to hear Arturo speak this aloud and give voice to what she fears most—that her daughter’s brain injury will never fully heal.
Chapters 19-22 Analysis
Mayor’s relationship with his parents takes another hit when they forbid him to see Maribel, highlighting The Myriad Forms of Trauma the novel portrays. While he is angry with both of his parents, Mayor feels particularly misunderstood by his father, whose machismo rules the household. When Mayor tries to talk his father into not using antiquated and offensive terms like “Orientals,” Rafael sneers at his son. In this way, Mayor resembles Jose, whose first-person account is folded into this part of the novel. Jose recalls being misunderstood by his father and being derided for being an aesthete. Though Jose is a veteran, like Mayor, his version of manhood includes the possibility of being sensitive, a characteristic that Rafael derides. Enrique is a positive role model for Mayor, as he embodies some traditionally masculine attributes, like athleticism, but does not engage in the harmful, toxic behaviors of his father. This provides a contrast between the older and younger generations and emphasizes The Dangers of Machismo, which include outdated behaviors and beliefs.
Maribel’s relationship with her parents also suffers in this section, as she begins to retreat into silence again now that she has been forced apart from Mayor. Furthermore, a rift emerges between Arturo and Alma, as Alma second-guesses her decision to end Mayor and Maribel’s relationship. For Arturo and Alma, the real question seems to be whether or not Maribel’s brain injury has fundamentally altered her identity and prospects for the future. When Arturo tells Alma he believes they will never get the old Maribel back, as she was before her fall, Alma is shaken to her core. This is followed by Chapter 23’s central action of Mayor and Maribel cutting school to be alone together in the snow, where the two teenagers momentarily escape the fears, hopes, and identities that their parents have foisted on them. However, as Maribel prophetically notes, “I knew it wouldn’t last” (235). This foreshadows the tragedy the family faces in the novel’s climax.
