Mecca Literary Elements

Historical Fiction

Set in the Inland Empire and Coachella Valley of Southern California. It follows multiple protagonists whose lives intersect as they navigate race, family, class, and identity issues.

It is narrated in both first-person from Johnny Frias's perspective and omniscient third-person. The point of view shifts between characters and events throughout the narrative.

The tone is one of resilience amidst uncertainty and chaos. The mood is reflective as it examines how its characters’ lives intersect in a rapidly changing world.

The protagonists are Johnny, Ximena, Merry, Mrs. Bunny, and Matelasse. The antagonist is the relentless forces of economic and racial inequality that drive the characters' lives in chaotic directions.

The major conflict is the struggle of its characters to survive and thrive in an environment of poverty, prejudice, and danger. The novel follows several people from various backgrounds who are all facing different challenges. Johnny Frias is a motorcycle cop hiding a dark secret, Ximena is an undocumented Mexican woman, and Matelasse Rodrigue's husband has left her for another life. Despite these obstacles, each character struggles to find hope in their circumstances and make something of themselves.

The climax takes place in the aftermath of a wildfire that has devastated the community of Mecca.

The reference to death and how there was always a possibility of dying even on a patrol bike. It sets up for the tragedy that later occurs when the protagonist finds a young girl who died in an accident. The mention of her necklace being made with dimes also serves as foreshadowing, as it will become important when the father asks if someone had taken it.

It can be found in Fidelia's line regarding Elpidia being a cheerleader at Desert Mirage High School. By saying Ximenia would just be "the nerd" like her, Fidelia is downplaying her intellect and intelligence to make light of a situation.

Bunny's daughter says, "Dr. Seuss cops" when she sees the Joshua trees waving at her like cops directing traffic. This is an allusion to the iconic illustrations of Dr. Seuss that often feature characters with outstretched arms.

“Mr. Bunny’s bones were larger pieces of gray and black in the dust of his flesh. Ximena had looked inside the box, once, on a Friday. Bones didn’t burn completely. Her grandfather and everyone else buried in wooden boxes at the church in San Cristóbal were not even bones now—they had been eaten and carried away by the insects underground. When the police found her mother’s body inside the car, in the flooded wash of the river outside Oaxaca City, she had been buried by mud and rocks for years.”

The paradox in the narrative is that although the house has been boarded up and abandoned, it still contains a wealth of memories and nostalgia for Johnny. On one hand, the house is empty, but on the other hand, it is full of fond memories from when his family still lived there.

Johnny, Ximena, and Matelasse each represent different aspects of Southern California life that are affected by poverty and prejudice. The author uses a parallel structure to emphasize the different ways they are affected by these issues while demonstrating the region's instability.

Metonymy: The phrase "Mexican Beverly Hills" is a metonym for Downey, a city in California. It is used to refer to the city by using a place that is associated with wealth and extravagance.

The wind is described as "shoving" and "blowing" which gives it human characteristics.