"Us" versus "them"?

Borders, Bridges, and Boundaries by Luis Alberto Urrea addresses a well known border: the one between Mexico and North America. Many people have a different opinion which depends on which side you are a part of, and which side you grew up in. This geographical border also holds a cultural border within the border. This is the polar cultures between the illegals and the border patrol. Both the geographical and cultural border play important roles in Luis' book and will be explored.

The first geographical encounter is when Luis presents 5 men who “stumbled out of the mountain pass so sunstruck that they didn't know their own names” (Urrea 3) This is the first line of the whole book! It gives the readers an idea of how this border physically and emotionally drains those who cross it, marks them, and has an impact on their cognition. 

 

The route that Yuma 14 took was longer than it was supposed to be as a result of Mendez's three major errors (Urrea 117) Their crossing of three deserts took them in circles and they endured drastic temperature changes where “the rocks went from oven-hot to feeling as warm as the human body” (Urrea 116) where the 'human body' temperature was the coldest! 

 

The book is a battle between the border patrol and illegals which turns into a battle of life and death. The border patrol and death work hand in hand to catch the illegals. All of the border patrol men have a gun with extra clips. “You shoot a guy to kill him, not to hurt him.” (Urrea 24) There are no cameras in the desert and it's the illegals' word against an authoritative one. Many of the border patrol men don't care for the well being of the illegals.

One thing that the border does is present itself differently to those who rule it and those who (try to) cross it. The border reveals itself pleasantly to the border patrol in a way that they have “learned to love the desert, the colors in the cliffs, the swoop of a retailed hawk, the saffron dust devils lurching into hills.” (Urrea 21) Anyone who went into the desert would be able to see these things, but without proper supplies, one might not survive. Without them, “you will pass through the six stages of heat death, or hyperthermia.” (Urrea 120)

The border patrol have many vital supplies such as “a thermal jug of cool water” (Urrea 24) and “ a killer AC unit and a strong FM radio.” (Urrea 25) While the last item is for entertainment and pleasure, it exemplifies how the border patrol's culture differs from the illegals'. They aren't subject to hyperthermia in their air conditioned cruisers and they won't die of thirst. The border patrol has a shift of comfort while the illegals have a journey of disparity and pain.

 

In many instances, one border shapes or reshapes another. In one certain case, support is shaped by family. On page 113, Urrea depicts a father with his arm around his son for physical support while they walk through the desert; “their tracks interwove and braided together as they wandered.” After trudging on the hot sand, he needed the support. He needed to know that someone was there for him. In turn, the son didn't push his father away, but accepted his father's weight and they continued together. 

 

In conclusion, The Devil's Highway illustrates the visible and invisible borders concerning the national border between Mexico and North America. The variety of borders, bridges, and boundaries within the national border are still present today which may cause conflict!

Rosa Alcala

Rosa Alcala was born and raised in Paterson, New jersey by her parents who were both factory workers. She is currently a poet and a translator. She went to Brown University for her MFA in Creative Writing and the Sate of New York at Buffalo for her Ph. D. in English. She is the author of two chapbooks: Some Maritime Disasters This Century and Undoumentary. Her poems are featured in The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, and journals such as Chain, Barrow street, Mandorla, Tarpaulin Sky, and The Brooklyn Rail. Many pf her poems talk about labor and money because she grew up around hardship. She is very interested in the way that class intercepts with other markers of identity. She has translated Cecilia Vicuna's El Templo and Cloud-net. Her translations have been featured in With Their Hands and Their Eyes: Maya Textiles, Mirrors of a Worldview, The Selected Poems of Lourdes Vazquez, and Oxford Book of Latin America Poetry. She believes that translating is a political act and by translating one country's poems, another country has a window into a different culture, set of beliefs, and political views. She has given talks and readings in America, Spain, Cuba, and Scotland. She is currently in Al Paso, Texas were she works at the University of Texas at El Paso and teaches in the Department of Creative Writing and the Bilingual MFA Program.

The poems by Rosa Alcala in the anthology The Wind Shifts serve as a bridge between the reader and the writer, especially as they explore unity by using metaphors,

In Migration, she doesn't talk about legal migration, but a scandalous one. Some key words serve as metaphors such as "gate" and "attacking" which don't talk literally represent a gate and attacking. They are metaphors for sexual boundaries. The "gate" is a place of the body which is private and one shouldn't enter without permission. Attacking refers to physical and sexual contact. While this poem is sexual, it does talk about unity. The language, diction, and title, may lead the reader to assume that the poem is about legal boundaries and borders such as the border of Mexico and America. In reality, Rosa is showing how everyone is unified in this affair. Everyone has sexual desires, but not everyone has an affair. She is also telling the reader that there is a choice by wondering, "Which direction to take: forward or forfeit?"

In The Sixth Avenue Go-Go Lounge, Rosa suggests unity by sin within a night club. When she mentions the economy. There is a questionable and unusual "dancer to drinker ratio suggests the inflated economy" which would effect everyone. While the effects may not be distributed equally, everyone feels a (slight or major) difference. She also mentions that all of this collective sin is happening on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. An example of a metaphor is when Paulie says, "I can make you that. But it won't taste like you remember." She isn't talking about a drink like one may assume, she is talking about sexual actions.

Lastly, in Patria, talks about politics, which Rosa thinks is a very important part of her work. Rosa manages to use a simile in this poem. She says, "I carry grief as blatant as propaganda" which goes hand in hand with metaphors. A metaphor is used when she talks about a mother. The 'mother' is actually a group of principles, values, and ethics which have the potential to unite people (and maybe the world).