46 pages • 1 hour read
Have You Seen Luis Velez?
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Themes
Similarities and Differences
Hyde creates a complex storyline in which people who seem most similar are incredibly different, while those who seem to have nothing in common have identical concerns. Raymond and Millie are distinct individuals with similar issues. Millie is a blind, 92-year-old German-Jewish widow. Raymond is a biracial, 16-year-old New York City high school student. However, they share a powerful similarity: Each loses the most important person in their lives. Millie’s caretaker Luis disappears and Raymond’s only friend, Andre, moves to California.
As Millie and Raymond grow to know each other, other similarities between them emerge. Each feels completely isolated—devoid of family and friends. Dark-skinned Raymond, who has no friends after Andres moves, lives with his mother and stepfather, who are white, and their three daughters. Though he frequently visits his Black father and stepmother, Raymond knows he is not welcome to stay with them. Millie’s husband and family members are deceased. She has lost contact with all neighbors and friends, in part because the residents of the apartment building have completely changed. Her blindness restricts her ability to interact with new acquaintances. These two characters are islands of aloneness in the sea of New York City.
