Point of View

The story is told in a first person point of view from the perspective of the novel’s main character, Liborio. Because Liborio is a Mexican immigrant living illegally in the United States, the events of the novel are continuously processed through the lens of a societal outsider. This lens allows the author to explore themes of otherness and the the hardships that befall the individuals who are the subject of aggressive border politics. Nearly everything Liborio says or does is in some way related to the fact that he is an immigrant. When there is a conflict, it becomes an intimate matter of survival that the reader lives through along with the narrator rather than passively observes.

Through Liborio’s point of view, everyone becomes a potential threat to his livelihood. Characters like Wendoline and Mr. Abacuc whose every intention is to help him...