American Dirt

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapter 4

Chapters 5-7

Chapter 8

Chapters 9-12

Chapter 13

Chapters 14-18

Chapters 19-22

Chapters 23-25

Chapters 26-29

Chapter 30-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Book Club Questions

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Cartels

The cartels symbolize terror and societal breakdown. Law enforcement is unable or unwilling to stop organized crime. Indeed, many members of the police force work for the cartels. Of the two-dozen law enforcement officials and medical personnel who arrive at the scene of the massacre in Chapter 2, seven are on the payroll of Los Jardineros. The cartels operate with impunity in Acapulco, causing violence that touches rich and poor families alike. The dangerous, chaotic environment created by the cartels feeds the northward migration out of Mexico and into the US.

The Border

The US-Mexico border is a threshold and a symbol of transition. It is a liminal space that is neither fully part of the US nor fully part of Mexico. It functions as both a barrier and a portal—a place that keeps some people out while letting others in. In Cummins’s book, the border separates the haves from the have-nots, while also marking the place where people embark on new, “invisible” lives as part of the undocumented population.

The Red New York Yankees Cap

The red Yankees baseball cap belonging to Sebastián is an emblem of paternal love. As one of the last tangible links to his father, Luca finds comfort in the cap and refuses to take it off: “He wears it even when he sleeps now, and when he has to remove it to shower, he makes Lydia hold it in her hands until he comes out” (125). The cap helps Luca mask his identity and keeps the sun off his face. It thus serves a protective function not unlike that of a father toward a child.

La Bestia

The freight trains running north to the US-Mexico border are simultaneously symbols of hope and danger. On the one hand, La Bestia is the only means of transportation for many migrants. On the other hand, merely getting on the trains is a dangerous proposition, exemplified in Chapter 14 when Luca almost rolls off the top. In Chapter 20, a man is cut in two after slipping under the wheels of the speeding train he is trying to board. Riding La Bestia is equally perilous. Chapter 17 sees a man getting thrown off a train after hitting his head on a tunnel. Distracted or sleeping migrants sometimes fall off the trains. Lydia and Luca strap themselves to grates to prevent this from happening. The trains present dangers to women after dark. Fear of sexual violence keeps Soledad and Rebeca off the trains at night. The cartels, human traffickers, and other criminals who populate the trains present yet another danger for migrants traveling on the trains.