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Call from San Francisco
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 is getting lunch with Senior at the barbeque restaurant. He asks Senior what will happen if he doesn’t raise $500 to move to Oxnard. Senior says that the only way Uno can see National City for what it is is through the eyes of a stranger. Uno tries to listen but doesn’t really follow. Senior says that everyone in the neighborhood is constantly thinking about money, and Uno agrees, but he loses the thread of the conversation again when Senior tells a story about Manny working at Arby’s. Senior says that white media has brainwashed Uno, and he compares “self-fulfillment prophecies” to suicide. Finally, he says Uno must work for the money. Uno is impressed with his dad’s knowledge, noting that Senior has changed recently.
Senior appears polished and well read, but at times it seems like he is assuming a false persona. Much of what Senior says sounds philosophical—but doesn’t follow logically. Here, for instance, he mistakes the term “self-fulfillment prophecy” for “self-fulfilling prophecy.” However, Senior encourages Uno to be confident and work hard. Senior considers white people to have a lot of power and control in society.
Themes
2. Sitting outside, Uno watches some young kids poke at a dead possum. It’s three weeks after Senior first talked about Uno moving to Oxnard, and Uno has no leads on a job three weeks. He applied at jobs all over town, but even places with hiring signs won’t hire him. Though he hit well at the derby last week, Uno didn’t win money because Danny beat him. Uno spots Sofia down the street, recognizing her by her walk— Sofia used to be a tomboy but has gotten more feminine as she’s aged.
The stark imagery of the kids playing with a dead possum illustrates the grim conditions of National City. Recalling Uno’s annoyance when he thought Sofia may have had a boyfriend, Uno noticing Sofia’s femininity may be another sign that he’s developing romantic feelings for her.
Themes
3. Uno catches up with Sofia, who is going Rollerblading with Carmen. He explains that he needs to make money quickly and that no one will hire him because he’s half Black. Sofia denies that race has anything to do with it. They walk together to the park and brainstorm ideas to make money. When they arrive, Sofia says that Danny is probably at the baseball field. To Uno’s surprise, she says that Danny goes there every day to practice pitching.
Uno may be echoing Senior’s thoughts about Black people being treated unfairly, but it’s likely that Uno’s race really does prevent employers from hiring him. As a Black person, Uno is a minority race in a predominately Hispanic area, and he likely experiences a greater amount of prejudice than his Mexican friends, though Sofia is unable to see this.
Themes
4. Sofia and Uno go to the field to secretly watch Danny. Uno apologizes to Sofia for hitting Danny, saying that he was just upset to see Manny hurt. Sofia retorts that Uno hit Danny because he was angry that Danny was hitting so well, and Uno admits that it did upset him. Sofia stresses that Danny is her family. Uno imagines Danny being lonely, and he recalls Senior once saying that religion taught him to be content with being alone. Uno asks Sofia about religion, and she replies that life sometimes seems pointless. She mentions a story she learned in school about a man who rolls a boulder up a hill and lets it fall back down, over and over again.
The story Sofia refers to is that of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. In the story, the Greek god Hades punishes Sisyphus by forcing him to roll a large boulder up a hill and let it roll back down before rolling it up again, over and over for eternity. This mirrors how both Uno and Sofia feel—that they work hard but never benefit from their efforts. They feel that their race and poverty limits them, and they don’t see any opportunity to advance or progress.
Themes
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5. As Sofia and Uno watch, Danny stops pitching and stares at a bird in the sky, standing still for a while. Sofia says Sofia's dad thinks Danny has become antisocial because of Javier leaving. They comment on how strange it is that Danny hardly talks, and the only time he’s spoken audibly is when he lied to Ray about his head injury. Uno notices a man wearing a Padres hat and says he saw the same man watching Danny at the fair. Sofia leaves, and Uno heads onto the field toward Danny.
Sofia and Uno don’t know why Danny stops pitching, but readers will know that Danny is watching a hawk in the sky, likely because it reminds him of Javier. Danny noticed a man in a Padres hat watching him at his first derby in National City. It seems likely that it’s the same man Uno notices now. This is very strange and mysterious, as the man seems to always be around when Danny is pitching.
Themes
