Caldo de Iguana Symbol Analysis

Father Gregory Boyle describes a visit to a Mexican prison during which he witnesses the prisoners working together to prepare a traditional Mexican stew called caldo de iguana. Though the prisoners have very little individually, they each bring an ingredient—sometimes the only thing they have—to put in the stew. Together, the prisoners make a stew that is tasty and nourishing and everyone gets a bowl of it. Had the prisoners not shared their ingredients and worked together to make the stew, they would have been hungry, so the soup symbolizes the benefits of cooperation and compassion. The stew is the life-affirming result of a group of people with difficult lives realizing that, no matter what their divisions, they are more powerful if they recognize what connects them.