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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Circuit, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Change and Instability
Immigrants, Discrimination, and Injustice
Childhood vs. Adulthood
Family and Community
Summary
Analysis
As always, after the strawberry season is done, Papá decides to go to the San Joaquin Valley to pick grapes. He doesn’t want to stay in Sullivan’s old garage again, so this time, the family heads to a town called Orosi. Papá has heard that a farmer there named Mr. Patrini provides good living quarters for his workers.
Once again, the family is on the move, looking for work. This time, they are heading to a town they have never been to before, since Papá has heard that they might find comfortable living quarters there. This seems like an echo of Papá’s initial plan to move to California from Mexico in search of a better life—and given how disappointing their big move was, this foreshadows more disappointment in the family’s future.
Themes
On the drive to Orosi, Francisco holds on tight to his two treasures: a blue notepad, and his penny collection that he keeps in a white cardboard box. It’s September, and school has started again—though Francisco won’t be attending until the end of the grape season in November. As they drive past the school that Francisco attended in Santa Maria, he wonders what Orosi will be like.
Francisco’s life is always in flux as his family moves around in search of work—he will have to first work in a new farm and then attend a new school. His treasures seem to provide him with some stability in the face of all this change, which is why he is clinging onto them.
Themes
Francisco opens the white box and admires his collection of pennies; his two favorites are a 1910 Lincoln Head and an 1865 Indian Head. Papá gave him the 1910 Lincoln Head, which was the coin that inspired Francisco to start his collection. Papá told him that the coin was made the same year that Papá was born. Papá told Francisco that if he keeps saving pennies, he’ll have a treasure one day.
To Francisco, the 1910 Lincoln Head is special not only because it is old and rare, but also because Papá gave it to him and because it was made in Papá’s birth year. The sentimental element of the coin, rather than the monetary value or novelty, is what makes it precious.
Themes
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Francisco got the 1865 Indian Head from Carl, one of his fifth-grade classmates in Corcoran. The boys became the best of friends when they discovered their common interest in coin-collecting. One day, Carl invited Francisco to his house to show him his coin collection. Francisco had never been inside a house before, and he was amazed at the comfort and luxury that Carl lived in. Carl’s living room was as big as Francisco’s family’s entire cabin. Carl had his own room, his own bed, and a closet full of clothes—all of which Francisco found very impressive.
In the same way, the 1865 Indian Head is very precious to Francisco because his best friend gave it to him; Francisco’s treasures are valuable to him because they remind him of people he loves. Meanwhile, as Francisco grows older, he is also becoming more aware of his own poverty and how this separates him from his peers.
Themes
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Carl told Francisco that he’d also like to visit Francisco’s house to see his coin collection. But Francisco didn’t want Carl to see how he lived, so he told him that his house was really far from school and that he’d bring his collection to school to show it to him instead. However, Francisco’s family ended up moving away that weekend, and he never saw Carl again.
Francisco is not only more aware of his own poverty, but he also knows that other people who don’t belong to his world—like Carl—would be shocked to see how he and his family live. With age, he is becoming embarrassed about his family’s living situation. Again, Francisco’s family ends up abruptly moving away, and his friendship with Carl is cut short. Carl and Francisco had made plans—as Francisco did in earlier chapters with Mr. Lema and Miguelito—but Francisco’s life is too unpredictable for him to carry them out. The constant moving clearly takes a toll on Francisco’s social life and sense of stability.
Themes
In the car, on the way to Orosi, Papá says that he’s sure the family is going to like it there. Francisco writes the word “Orosi” on his notepad and splits the word into two parts: “Oro” and “si.” He thinks that oro means gold in Spanish and that sí means yes, so Papá is right that it will be a good place to live in. Francisco thinks that when he first found the notepad in the city dump, it was almost new—but now, its cover is beginning to fade.
As Francisco gets older, he struggles to reconcile himself with his poverty, since he is becoming more aware of the comfortable lifestyles that most of his classmates have. As a result, he is hopeful that the family will make more money so that he, too, can have comfort and stability in his life—this is why he thinks that “Orosi” (which he translates to mean wealth or prosperity) will be a good place for them.
Themes
Francisco had first started using the notepad when he was in Mrs. Martin’s sixth grade class in Santa Maria. The family moved there from Fresno, where Francisco had started sixth grade in Mr. Lema’s class. Mrs. Martin put up a new English word on the board every morning, and the student who found the word first in the dictionary got a point. Though Francisco never got a point, he began writing down the words and their definitions to memorize them. Even after he left the class, he continued to write words, grammar rules, and math facts in the notepad and memorize them as he worked in the fields. He still takes the notepad with him everywhere.
As the family moves around, Francisco attends various schools for a few months each. As a result of this constant disruption, he struggles academically—especially with English, since he doesn’t speak or write it outside of school. Although Mr. Lema went out of his way to help Francisco with his English, Francisco wasn’t able to spend enough time with him to learn, since his family moved once again. Francisco’s experiences seem to have taught him that only he can help himself, and his notepad is proof of his increasing self-sufficiency as well as his determination to learn.
Themes
Francisco’s family finally arrives at Orosi, and Mr. Patrini, the owner of the vineyard, shows them the old, two-storied wooden house they’ll be living in. He warns them not to use the second floor, because the floors are unstable. The family unpacks their belongings on the first floor, which has two rooms plus a kitchen. As Francisco is putting away his penny collection, his little sister, Rorra, asks him if she can have a coin. He refuses, saying that these are special coins, and Rorra stomps away angrily. That night, as Francisco goes to sleep, he’s excited that his family is living in a house.
Papá had heard that Mr. Patrini gives his workers good living quarters and he turns out to be right: the family gets to live in a house for the first time in their lives. Francisco is excited about this, even though the house is so old that it is literally falling apart. This house is very different from Carl’s, which is the only other house that Francisco has been in. Still, it is an improvement from their usual living quarters.
Themes
Before sunrise the next morning, Papá, Roberto, Francisco, and Trampita go to pick grapes for Mr. Patrini. Though Francisco takes his notepad with him, it’s too hot and the work is too hard for him to learn anything. Soon, he’s covered in sweat, and he leaves the notepad in the car because he doesn’t want to ruin it.
As Francisco’s younger siblings grow older, they, too, begin to work in the fields and contribute to the family’s income. The work is hard, even for an older child like Francisco, so it must be especially hard for Trampita.
Themes
Mamá and Rorra went to the grocery store when Francisco was at work, and Francisco looks through the change Mamá got to try to find old pennies for his collection. He finds one from 1939, and Mamá lets him have it. When Francisco takes it to the coin box to add to his collection, he finds that his two special coins, which he’d kept wrapped in cotton, are missing. Francisco rushes to the kitchen, shouting about his missing coins. Rorra hides behind Mamá. Francisco asks Rorra if she took his coins, but she just silently offers him two red gumballs. Francisco angrily says that he doesn’t want her candy, and Rorra begins to cry.
Francisco’s two most precious pennies were very valuable to him—not only because they were old, but also because they had sentimental value. They conjured up memories of the people who gave Francisco the coins, which was very valuable to him. However, Rorra is too young to understand all this; to her, a piece of candy is more precious than an old coin.
Themes
Mamá tells Francisco to calm down, and she gently asks Rorra if she took Francisco’s coins. Rorra nods. Mamá asks her what she did with them, and Rorra points to the gumballs. Francisco understands that she has used his precious coins to put in the gumball machine at the store, and he’s devastated. He stalks out of the kitchen, sits on the front steps of the house, and cries.
Even though Francisco is older than Rorra and is often tasked with adult-like work and worries, his heartbreaking reaction when he realizes that his precious coins are gone reminds readers that he is still a child.
Themes
Mamá follows Francisco out and kindly tells him that she understands how upset he is, but that he must remember that Rorra is only four years old. Mamá tells him a story about a smart and rich ant who saves up her pennies and marries a little mouse. The mouse and the ant are very happy together, but then the ant dies suddenly, leaving the mouse alone. He’s sad and lonely despite all the money he has. Mamá says that, similarly, Rorra is more important and valuable than pennies. This story helps Francisco to calm down a little.
While Mamá understands Francisco’s sorrow, she also points out that Rorra is too young to understand the weight of her misdeed. To Francisco, the coins meant more because of the memories he associated with them. Mamá’s story helps him see even more clearly that people and human connections are always more precious than material objects or money.
Themes
Mamá helps Francisco wrap his notepad in wax paper to keep it clean and dry when he is working in the fields. The next day, Francisco memorizes some spellings as he picks grapes, and this makes the work more bearable. On the way home, Papá stops at a gas station to buy some kerosene for the stove. When Roberto unloads it from the car, he tells Francisco to go ask Papá about it, since it smells like gasoline rather than kerosene. However, Papá is busy fixing a broken wall, and he says that it must just be cheap kerosene.
Most kids Francisco’s age wouldn’t find spellings to be a fun activity. However, Francisco misses the routine of attending school every day, since his family’s moving constantly upends his life. He is keenly aware of how he is behind his classmates in his academics despite being intelligent and hard-working, and he wants to close this gap. To him, memorizing his spellings seems enjoyable when compared to the back-breaking drudgery of farm work.
Themes
Mamá is getting ready to cook beans for dinner, and she lights the stove after Roberto fills it. It erupts into flames, setting the kitchen curtains on fire. Roberto tries to put the flames out with some soapy water from the sink, but this only makes things worse, and the fire spreads quickly around the kitchen. Papá yells for everyone to get out of the house, and he rushes back into the flames to get their money box. The children and Mamá wait in the yard until Papá finally emerges, coughing, with the box in his hand.
Throughout the novel, Francisco’s family often realizes that life does not live up to their hopes and expectations. They had moved to the United States with big dreams, but they’re largely disappointed by their lives of poverty and constant struggle. Similarly, they moved to Orosi dreaming of a better home, and this, too, turns tragic. Their lives are so precarious—balancing temporary jobs, poverty, and their status as undocumented workers—that every event has the potential to tip the balance into disaster.
Themes
Just then, Francisco realizes that his precious notepad is inside, and he tries to rush into the burning house to save it. Roberto restrains him, and Papá yells at Francisco to stop. By the time the firefighters arrive, the whole house has burned to the ground. Papá says that they’ll have to sleep in the barn until he finds them another place to stay.
Even in this moment of calamity, when Francisco seems to temporarily lose all rationality and the family loses the few items they own, they still watch out for one another. This is a testament to how valuable their relationships with one another are to them, as these bonds provide comfort even in the midst of tragedy.
Themes
Francisco cries as he watches the last of the fire, so Mamá holds him and says that she’s happy they’re all safe. Francisco says his notebook is gone, just like his pennies. Mamá says that he already knows all the information from the notepad, so it’s not lost. A few days later, the family moves into a labor camp owned by Mr. Patrini, and Francisco returns to picking grapes. As he works, he tries to recall the words he’d written in his notepad. He realizes that he remembers everything he wrote down, and that Mamá was right—“It [is] not all lost.”
Mamá must be devastated about how much the family lost in the fire, especially since they’re poor and can’t easily replace their necessities. Still, she focuses on the fact that the family is safe, and she even takes the time to console Francisco about his notepad. This emphasizes the depth of her kindness and understanding for one another. Once again, Mamá’s message is that things and money do not matter as much as people do, and Francisco realizes that she is right—the notepad might be gone, but his knowledge is his own forever. He feels hopeful when he realizes this.
Themes
