Genre
Contemporary, Essay.
Setting and Context
Latin, Central, and North America, and the Mexico-American border circa 2014
Narrator and Point of View
Valeria Luiselli and the non-documented immigrant children are the narrators.
Tone and Mood
Awful, compassionate, distressing, and alarming.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The undocumented children are the protagonists. The criminal gangs and America’s brutal immigrant system are the antagonists.
Major Conflict
The undocumented children’s mission of settling in America.
Climax
The undocumented children’s appearance on the Mexico-USA border.
Foreshadowing
N/A
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
Allusions to the contemporary goings-on, especially during the reign of Donald Trump.
Imagery
Luiselli’s accounts portray the susceptibility of undocumented children. They are not unequivocally safe in their home countries and America as well.
Paradox
Demonstrations against the unaccompanied children, which adults in America command, are paradoxical.
Parallelism
The questions that guide the format of the essay generate a parallel question and answer layout.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Pandilleros refer to gangs.
Personification
Stomachs are a personification of intuition: “Children do what their stomachs tell them to do.”
