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A Last Las Palmas Practice Session
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. Uno and Sofia are on the playground at Las Palmas one night. Sofia wonders out loud what her future holds. She’s a good student, but she doesn’t know anyone who’s ever been to college. Uno encourages her and kisses her forehead. Sofia talks about a little girl she saw recently at the park. The girl perched at the top of the slide before coming down, saying, “Here I come!” Sofia thinks everyone starts out with that little girl’s attitude—believing the world to be full of opportunity—but they lose it as they grow up. Uno asks Sofia about Javier. Sofia says she’ll tell him what happened as long as he doesn’t mention anything to Danny.
Sofia’s view of her future opportunities parallels Uno’s and Danny’s respective concerns about their futures. They all feel that the circumstances they were born into limit their opportunities. Sofia’s metaphor about the little girl suggests that people are naturally optimistic, but that their expectations diminish as their surroundings demoralize them. It’s not clear exactly what Sofia tells Uno about Javier. One possibility is that she tells Uno that Javier abused Wendy. It’s also possible that Sofia knows more about Javier than Danny does at this point.
Themes
