Cantú’s Father Character Analysis in The Line Becomes a River

Cantú’s father is absent from Cantú’s life and from the action of the book. Cantú’s parents separated when he was young, and when he visits his uncle, he finds photographs of his father and his several young wives (and his children with those wives), indicating that Cantú’s father wasn’t a particularly strong or positive influence in his life.

Cantú’s Father Character Timeline in The Line Becomes a River

The timeline below shows where the character Cantú’s Father appears in The Line Becomes a River. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...coworkers go back to El Paso while he stays behind to visit his uncle on his father ’s side, whom he hasn't seen in years. In the morning, Cantú wakes to find... (full context)

Trauma and Emotional Detachment Theme Icon

...He was too young to remember, but his mother took him after splitting up with his father , wanting Cantú to know the border and not fear it and wanting to show... (full context)

In an interlude, Cantú discusses his mother’s background. Her mother was Irish and German, and her father was Mexican but left when she was young. Her mother raised her to be ashamed... (full context)

Cantú’s mother had a single photograph of her father , in traditional Mexican dress. She romanticized him as a kind of ideal Mexican archetype:... (full context)

...understand that loyalty to a place and to traditions—the kind of conservatism she’d rejected in her father —could be strengths, making people feel rooted and love the land. (full context)