Anita de Monte Laughs Last

Throughout the novel, Xochitl Gonzalez exhibits a deep understanding of intersectionality, and she is just as attuned to the politics of class as she is the politics of race and culture. She explores the impact that class has on artists of color primarily through her characterization of Raquel, who experiences class-based prejudice at the hands of her classmates, her boyfriend Nick, and Nick’s family. Raquel grew up in Brooklyn and was not born into the kind of affluence that characterizes the lives of most of the other students at her Ivy League school. Whereas her classmates’ parents wield considerable influence in the realms of art, real estate, and finance, Raquel’s own mother works at the Met’s cafeteria. The difference in her background is immediately apparent to Raquel upon arrival at Brown. She realizes that small details set her apart from others; for example, her shower caddy contains drug store brands like Noxema, while her classmates use unfamiliar and expensive products. As one of a handful of students of color in her department, she knows that she stands out, but she also realizes that the clique-entrenched girls at school see her as a poor, underprivileged woman of color. Raquel is unaccustomed to seeing herself in that light, for although she is not wealthy, she grew up in a happy, supportive, functional home, and she never lacked for anything. The gap between how Raquel is perceived and what her childhood was actually like is meant to show the disutility of using class as a framework by which to judge an individual. The other students miss so much about Raquel because they see her as “poor,” and this dynamic becomes particularly apparent to Raquel when one of her rare conversations with the “Art History Girls” devolves into an argument and a smear campaign. As one of them angrily tells her, “We all see how you work John Temple; how you manipulate the faculty. This poor, pitiful public school kid routine. Poor little minority, always so fucking earnest about how hard she works” (67). This contemptuous tirade embodies many of the inherent prejudices against which Raquel must fight in order to forge her own place in the art world.

Raquel also experiences class-based discrimination in her romantic relationship. Although Nick fancies himself modern and likes to think that he has escaped the trappings of his privilege because he is “open-minded,” he, too, sees Raquel through the lens of difference. He assumes that she wants access to the high-class world that he moves in because he equates money with success and happiness. He is sure that she is grateful to him for “saving” her from her lower-class life, and he even thinks himself modern for dating a woman with a background so different from his. His parents also see Raquel through the lens of class and fancy themselves open-minded for accepting their son’s underprivileged girlfriend. Well aware of these undercurrents, Raquel observes casual bigotry in much of their conversation with her, and she realizes that they share their son’s belief that Raquel must be grateful for the opportunity to have access to their world.

Despite these roadblocks, Raquel ultimately achieves success on the basis of her own merits, and her unique and authentic approach proves that class is not an accurate predictor of intellect or intelligence. Although she does not have access to the same set of privileges that her affluent classmates do, Raquel nonetheless develops a keen, critical eye through her own powers of reasoning and through the influence of her mother, who is knowledgeable about art and art history despite her lack of a degree or a high-powered position within the art world.