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Morse High Hustle
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mexican WhiteBoy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race and Identity
Fate vs. Opportunity
Violence, Power, and Coping Mechanisms
Coming of Age
Family, Friendship, and Culture
Summary
Analysis
1. One night, Tommy and Cecelia go out to celebrate a new construction job Tommy got. Danny and Sofia stay home, and Danny ruminates on why he loses control of his pitching when he feels pressure. Eventually, Tommy and Cecelia come home tipsy. Tommy tries to kiss Cecelia, and she laughs as she pushes him away, since they’re right next to Sofia and Danny (who both appear to be asleep). Tommy and Cecelia kiss and say they love each other before going to their room. Danny feels horrible that he didn’t strike out Carmelo, and he thinks he let Uno down. He cuts his arm with his nail. He can’t sleep, so he leaves for the liquor store to get a soda.
The interaction between Tommy and Cecelia exemplifies a healthy relationship. The novel mostly links drinking alcohol with aggression, abuse, or violence, but Tommy and Cecelia treat each other with care and respect, even when they’re intoxicated. Tommy does not struggle with impulsive violence like his brothers do. This is evidence that even though negative traits can run in families, people can also break cycles of abuse and violence.
Themes
In a letter to Danny's dad, Danny writes that he’s doing great. He says he’s playing on an all-star team and traveling the country and that Uno is his best friend. Danny writes that his girlfriend Liberty will follow Danny wherever he ends up, and he suggests that once he’s a professional baseball player, he can spend his off seasons in Mexico with Liberty, and they can all go out to eat together.
Danny recently heard his uncle Tommy say that Javier was a violent troublemaker, but Danny seems to be in denial of his father’s true nature. As Danny’s letters show, he is still preoccupied with making Javier proud. The fantasy world that Danny creates in the letters may also serve to soothe Danny’s anxiety, in the same way that he finds comfort in his fantasy about the hawks.
Themes
