50 pages • 1 hour read
Tony JohnstonAny Small Goodness
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Arturo Rodriguez
Arturo is the dynamic protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. He is a Mexican American adolescent whose family has recently immigrated to the US. He lives in a Los Angeles barrio with his family.
In charting Arturo’s journey, Any Small Goodness functions as a bildungsroman—or coming-of-age—novel. Throughout the novel, Arturo must come to form his own identity, striking a balance between his Mexican heritage and American culture. In the novel’s beginning, Arturo defines himself within the context of a larger family tradition: “My name’s Arturo, ‘Turo’ for short. For my father, and my grandfather, and his father, back and back” (7). However, when starting school, Arturo hopes to separate himself from his family and create a new, distinctly American self, aligned with stereotypical American individualism. When Miss Pringle changes his name to “Arthur,” Arturo rolls with it, until he overhears Abuelita’s grief and realizes that he’s taken it a step too far. Ultimately, Arturo settles somewhere in the middle of these two extremes: embracing his Mexican identity but also allowing himself to take on some aspects of American life. For instance, Arturo speaks in pocho, an English-Spanish mix that honors both linguistic traditions, emphasizing Embracing a Multicultural Identity.
Living in the barrio, Arturo sometimes struggles to see past its conflicts. Though he appreciates the many leaders who shape the community positively—such as Coach Tree, Mama Dulce, and Ms. Cloud—Arturo often grows cynical, frustrated that “lowlifes just come and turn [the neighborhood] ugly” (88). Ultimately, by the novel’s end, Arturo learns to love the barrio and to similarly embrace both its good and bad qualities. This journey toward acceptance is fraught—punctuated by an attack on the Rodriguez home—but never once does Arturo compromise his love for his friends and family. Arturo consistently praises Papi’s “real macho” (82), Luis’s “flair” (24), and Rosa’s resemblance of “cotton candy on a stick” (98). Similarly, Arturo cultivates a like-minded, supportive group of friends—Alicia, Jaime, Raúl, and Ralph—and eventually forms the Green Needle Gang in the interest of community service. For Arturo, friends and family are a crucial source of strength, helping him discover his best self. Fittingly, the novel ends on Christmas, as Arturo looks around “at the faces I love” (124). In closing Arturo’s story thus, Johnston permanently fixes him within his family, suggesting their relevance to his further growth toward adulthood and emphasizing The Value of Family and Community.
Mami and Papi
Mami and Papi are Arturo’s parents, who live with him in the barrio. Papi’s search for a better career opportunity has led the family to Los Angeles, and over the course of the novel, he works as a salesman at a furniture store. Though Papi’s job is neither “too high up or too low down,” he’s an exceptionally hard worker, and Arturo admires that “in his three years there, he’s never missed a day of work” (91). Mami, on the other hand, is a homemaker, and she expresses her love through her cooking. Cooking is often associated with warmth and nourishment, suggesting Mami’s importance to Arturo’s growth and sense of safety.
Mami and Papi are characteristically gentle. Arturo often likens Mami and Papi to “two soft doves” and mentions that they’ve “never talked sharply” (11). Similarly, Mami and Papi enjoy a loving marriage. One year, for Valentine’s Day, Papi enlists the family’s help to decorate their house with fake stones, to better match Mami’s tastes. Inspired by this experience, Arturo often compares Mami and Papi to stones, noticing a similarity in their sense of strength and stability. For instance, thinking about relationships, Arturo hopes for a love like Mami and Papi’s, “just plain and strong, like stones” (63). Mami also invokes a similar metaphor, suggesting that Papi’s dedication to his work renders him “good earth under that store” (91). Like stones, Mami and Papi are unassuming, discovering strength in quietness, and their gentle support provides the basis for Arturo’s success.
Though Mami and Papi are largely static characters, the attack on their home briefly upsets their calm. Papi, for instance, is enraged, and he suddenly resembles a “broken-winged bat” more than a dove (98). Similarly, Mami’s eyes register a “hurt so deep, you couldn’t dig it out with a backhoe” (97). However, despite this setback, Mami and Papi still insist on The Value of Family and Community, acknowledging that “any small goodness” outweighs the barrio’s potential for darkness (103). As the novel closes, Mami and Papi are laughing around the Christmas tree, celebrating their beloved family.
Abuelita
Abuelita is Arturo’s paternal grandmother. A largely static character, Abuelita moved from Aguascalientes, Mexico, after the death of her husband. Abuelita represents Arturo’s connection to his Mexican heritage, and she refuses to sacrifice her duty to the past and tradition. Arturo describes Abuelita as “eighty-something,” with wrinkled skin and “two braids wound so high on her head, they must have been growing during her whole life” (11). Abuelita always dresses “in cricket-black” (11), in honor of her departed husband. Arturo’s description of Abuelita underscores her attachments to an honored past; her hair, dress, and cobweb-like skin reflect both her age and her many experiences.
Abuelita often encourages Arturo to share in her love of tradition, emphasizing her role in Embracing a Multicultural Identity. For instance, Abuelita disapproves of Arturo’s decision to change his name to “Arthur.” She explains that “eeet burns in my earsss like poissson” (12), exaggerating her use of English to better convince Arturo of his mistake. Abuelita also uses food to connect to her Mexican roots, maintaining a corn plot in the family’s yard and peeling off black fungus to cook huitlacoche.
Though Arturo often emphasizes Abuelita’s feistiness—describing her as a “little fighting rooster” (11)—he’s still careful to characterize her softer side. For instance, Arturo mentions that “God guides [Abuelita’s] life” (11), and he notes how affectionately she embraces his friends, pinching their cheeks and calling them “muchachos muy lindos [very cute boys]” (14). Similarly, though Abuelita fiercely preserves her culture, she sometimes relaxes her suspicion and embraces American traditions. She loves basketball, for instance, and cheers on the LA Lakers.
Ultimately, Abuelita joins the family in their preference for substance over shine, and she’s quick to celebrate goodness. When Leo Love, a white American neighbor, returns Huitla to the Rodriguez family, Abuelita is quick to address him as “El Estimado” to signal her admiration. Arturo likens this duality to a cactus with flowers, admitting that Abuelita is similarly “prickly but full of goodness” (21). In this light, though Abuelita is feisty, she never compromises her devotion to family, morality, and community.
Rosa and Luis
Rosa and Luis are Arturo’s younger sister and older brother, respectively. Luis is in high school and spends most of his free time mastering the trumpet, eventually creating the band Mega Mango. Abuelita attributes Luis’s musical talent to his spirit animal, Ozomatli, the Aztec god of music. Luis’s passion lends him a natural exuberance, and Arturo describes how “rhythms rush through his blood with such force” (24). However, despite this spirit, Luis tends toward cynicism, and he sometimes struggles to emulate Mami and Papi’s example of gentle simplicity. For instance, though Mami insists that Coach Tree’s teaching is truly altruistic, Luis silently disagrees. Similarly, when antagonized at the school dance, Luis does not shy away from confrontation, as Papi would, but “taunts [the gang] with a few choppy notes” (87). In this sense, Luis is discovering self-identity through rebellion, making him a foil to Arturo, who is discovering his identity by following his family’s example.
Rosa, however, is the complete opposite. At six years old, Rosa is earnest, generous, and outgoing. She shares a special relationship with Papi and Leo Love, a kindly neighbor who consents to become her pen pal. Rosa, by virtue of her name, is obsessed with all things pink, wearing dresses “as pink and fluffy as big, wide birthday cakes” (93). Rosa’s characteristic innocence ultimately underscores the family’s vulnerability to violence: In seeking revenge for a perceived slight, a neighborhood gang shoots at the Rodriguez home, destroying Rosa’s pink lunch box. Rosa is especially affected, so disturbed that Arturo fears that “she won’t trust anyone again” (101). However, when Officer Paster replaces Rosa’s lunch box, Rosa rediscovers her happiness. At the end of the novel, after giving Papi a hand-knitted scarf, Rosa joins her family “singing and dancing” around the tree (124).
Alicia, Raúl, Jaime, and Lloyd
Alicia, Raúl, Jaime, and Lloyd meet Arturo early in the novel, as he begins school. Like Arturo, they live in the barrio and similarly cope with multicultural tensions. The group mostly appears together, but some members have specific quirks that distinguish them. For instance, Raúl loves “weird words” (9). Like Arturo blends Spanish and English, Raúl sprinkles Latin into his conversation, stumping Arturo with phrases like “modus operandi” (109) and “excelsior” (115). Lloyd also sticks out, too. Nicknamed “Rat Nose,” Lloyd is the only non-Mexican. Arturo describes him as a “gringo,” a slang term among Latinx communities that typically refers to a white, non-Hispanic or non-Latinx American. However, Lloyd fits in perfectly with the rest of the group, and he participates in their Mexican American traditions.
Ultimately, Arturo’s friends help Arturo to make sense of his own emotional conflict, giving him the necessary strength to protect his cultural authenticity. For instance, only after joining his friends does Arturo decide to abandon “Arthur” in favor of “Arturo.” Even though each friend maintains otherwise, they each regret their name change, and Arturo sees his own pain reflected in Alicia’s eyes. Standing in Arturo’s kitchen, each friend re-assumes their Mexican name. This powerful ceremony seals their friendship, and they develop a bond that withstands the barrio’s potential for violence.
During the Christmas season, Alicia, Jaime, Raúl, and Lloyd join Arturo and Luis as they form the Green Needle Gang. Working secretly, the group delivers trees and presents to deserving families in their community. Like Arturo, they relish the opportunity to give back. After another successful mission, the group returns to the Rodriguez home, where they celebrate together without restraint.
