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Chapter 30
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Into the Beautiful North, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Borders and Ownership
Racism
Disillusionment and Idealization
Male vs. Female Heroism
Female Friendship vs. Romance
Summary
Analysis
At nine in the morning in San Diego, Irma waits at a table in a conference room. Atómiko drinks all the coffee he possibly can, and Irma indulges him when he asks for donuts. Chava sits next to Irma: he's now the Deputy Mayor of Tres Camarones. Yolo and Vampi sit with Irma as well, and El Brujo and Atómiko act as security guards. Matt and Angel sit in the corner, and Matt wonders how Nayeli is doing on her trip.
Though Irma has given several of these men positions of relative power, she's still the one running this show, and the men are just here to support her. Meanwhile, Matt's errant thoughts suggest that Nayeli may have been wrong to read so much into his fling with Yolo.
Themes
A hotel employee informs Irma that the applicants have arrived, and Irma asks him to send them in. When twelve men enter, Irma states she only needs four. The employee pokes his head back in and says that there are many men still waiting. Atómiko goes to the lobby to inspect and finds an entire line of Mexican men. They ask Atómiko to take them back to Mexico, saying that it's too hard in America, and they just want jobs. Atómiko returns to Irma and declares that the revolution has begun.
These men show very clearly that they're all disillusioned by what they’ve found in the United States. Their overwhelming desire to go to Tres Camarones suggests that they've been idealizing Mexico since leaving, which means that Mexico could fall short of their expectations just like the US did.
Themes
