TNT

Symbolically, TNT has multiple meanings in the novel. TNT is a shortened form of the Tagalog phrase “tago ng tago,” translating to “hiding and hiding,” and refers to Filipinos who live in America without documentation, and thus have to “hide and hide” from authorities. Excel and Maxima are both TNT, and thus must be as invisible as possible to the outside world. TNT also refers to an explosive bomb—when Maxima revealed to Excel that they were TNT, “he pictured a stick of dynamite, the lit fuse, the explosion to come” (6). This imagery would recur when Excel later falsified an account of his family history in an essay, lying that his distant grandfather was Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite. Like TNT, Excel is prone to volatility, the responsibility of keeping his secret pressurizing in his mind until he detonates, blowing up in rare but explosive expressions...