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60 pages 2 hours read

Paola Mendoza, Abby Sher

Sanctuary

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Important Quotes

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Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to xenophobia, enslavement, other violence, and challenges faced by immigrants.

“The underground reporters would also call her brave, defiant, fearless.

And the government news would call her disease-ridden, illegal, criminal.

But as I watched it with my own eyes, I saw that she was just a girl my age. Wearing a faded Mickey Mouse T-shirt and jean shorts that were rolled over on top but still looked like they might fall off her skinny waist. She had somehow gotten over a line of concrete ballasts and the chain-link fence stretching across the burnt-out field between Tijuana and San Diego. That rusty, mangled barricade that was supposed to keep people on the Tijuana side. It stood there as a scar. A reminder. A warning. Its sole purpose was to say

STAY OUT. YOU DON’T BELONG HERE.


(Chapter 1, Pages 1-2)

The girl’s Mickey Mouse T-shirt introduces the motif of fairy-tale elements, which are scattered throughout the novel in order to highlight the unimaginable challenges the characters face, as well as the occasional bouts of fortune and chance in an otherwise bleak world. Vali uses the metaphor of a scar to describe the barricade between the US and Mexico to develop The Human Cost of Xenophobia and to illustrate how xenophobia results in violence.

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“The Wall. The Great American Wall.

There was nothing great about it. More like grotesque. It blocked out the sky, with fifty-foot-tall reinforced steel slats and thick metal mesh in between. Every few feet there were coils of barbed wire strung across, and on top there was a maze of cables spitting out electricity. The government had spent gazillions of dollars and called in all the Reserves to help build this monstrosity. Sealing us off from the rest of the Americas.

Stop where you are! snarled a voice through a speaker by the Wall.

Technically, that girl wasn’t even on United States soil. But as the President loved to say, America was the greatest nation in the history of greatness, and we needed to do whatever it took to protect our sacred borders. That was why there was a platoon of Border Patrol officers lined up on top of the Wall. Green zombies, I called them. Standing at attention in their olive-colored uniforms with pale, expressionless faces. They had the newest AK-87s strapped to their backs and German shepherds circling at their feet as they stared down that girl.”


(Chapter 1, Pages 2-3)

The name “The Great American Wall” bears resemblance to the Great Wall of China, implying a similarity of purpose between the two structures. In the novel, the US does not appear to be protecting its borders against war, but rather against civilian immigrants. The level of military presence and weaponry at the border, however, seems more appropriate for war than civilians, illustrating how xenophobia has caused the US government in the novel to view immigrants not as people, but as problems or threats. In clear imagery, Vali describes the wall as “grotesque” and the border patrol agents as “green zombies” to highlight the horrific, monstrous nature of xenophobia and violence against civilian immigrants.

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“In San Diego, there were people banging rocks on the Great Grotesque Wall. Pounding and hammering at the ballasts, like a growing thunder.

No more walls! No more deaths! They yelled. There were thousands of hands grabbing, scratching. Trying to rip apart the steel, the barbed wire, the hatred that went into building the Wall. The green helicopters hovered over them like a venomous cloud.”


(Chapter 1, Page 9)

This passage illustrates how The Human Cost of Xenophobia affects not only undocumented immigrants, but also others on both sides of the border. Protests erupt on both sides; soon, drones appear to release tear gas and shoot people on both sides, showing how the harm and violence of xenophobia has a web effect and negatively impacts even people who are allegedly not supposed to be targeted. Vali uses the simile of a “venomous cloud” to describe the gathering drones to illustrate their great capacity for harm as well as their unpredictable and terrifying nature.

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“They were all casualties of this undeclared armed conflict in Colombia. It was no longer the fifty-two-year civil war, but instead it was a quieter war. Almost deadlier, because it was so stealthy and cruel. A war camouflaged inside the shadows of peace.

Mami […] said she missed Colombia every second of every day, but that the mountains and rivers were covered in blood. That’s why we had to leave our home and make a new one here.”


(Chapter 2, Pages 17-18)

Mami metaphorically describes the landscape of her beloved home, Colombia, as being “covered in blood” to describe the extent of violence against civilians, which caused her family to flee. Ironically, the way the conflict in Colombia is described—as “a war camouflaged inside the shadows of peace”—resembles the situation that unfolds in the US after Mami and her family arrive there. Although the US does not appear to be at war with the numerous countries from which undocumented immigrants come, they do appear to be “at war” with the immigrants themselves, since they seek to capture, kill, enslave, and/or deport them.

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“I didn’t know how she kept it all together. How she fed and clothed us while our world was being demolished. I couldn’t decide whether this was resilience, or foolishness.”


(Chapter 3, Page 30)

At first, although Vali admires her mother deeply, she can’t understand how she musters resilience in the face of challenges that seem logically impossible to solve given the limited resources and information that they have. Over time Vali comes to realize that this type of resilience is the most important of all because it can carry people through times that they couldn’t otherwise make it through. This develops The Importance of Resilience in the Face of Adversity.

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“Morrow Magnet High School was the whitest place on earth.

Every day I came to school, I felt like all the color had been sucked out of my life. The entire building was just so freaking sterile and bare. It was constructed entirely of transparent walls and bulletproof glass and had a massive metal fence surrounding it. Inside, not a single poster or piece of art was allowed to be hung, and every inch of furniture was painted white. Even though it was almost the end of my junior year, I still got lost all the time in this white maze of blah.”


(Chapter 4, Page 43)

The imagery in this passage illustrates how Vali’s high school is a microcosm of the novel’s dystopian future version of the US as a whole—whitewashed, surrounded by a grotesque-looking border, and full of authority figures with guns. The political climate of the nation is shown to trickle down to basic institutions such as schools, becoming inescapable.

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“‘We’re going to be okay,’ Mami repeated. ‘We just have to…’

It sounded like Mami didn’t know how to complete that thought.”


(Chapter 5, Page 64)

Sometimes, even Mami doesn’t know the right thing to say. This is repeated throughout the novel, both in Mami’s speech and in other characters’ speech, in order to demonstrate how sometimes, reality can be so futile that words cannot do it justice. This parallels the way math, numbers, and word problems are also shown to be ineffective tools to describe the complex problems happening in real life.

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“It was like we were trapped inside the walls of our building while everyone else around us went about their daily activities. I could hear our neighbors making coffee, flushing their toilets, listening to music, or chatting about the possibility of a storm. They were just walking through their days and their lives, knowing they were safe and secure, because somehow, that was their birthright.”


(Chapter 6, Page 72)

This passage reveals the crux of xenophobia: the place where someone was born. Since the location of a baby’s birth is not the baby’s fault, it seems absurd to Vali that people are given different rights depending on where they were born. Xenophobia even criminalizes babies and children who become undocumented immigrants through no will of their own but are still punished for it.

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“‘Where are we going?’

‘I trying to figure that out.’

‘And how do we know when to leave?’

‘No sé,’ Mami answered. ‘We just know when it is too dangerous to stay.’”


(Chapter 6, Page 75)

This passage summarizes the experience of undocumented immigrants in the novel’s dystopia. They are continuously on the run from a variety of dangers; not only do government agencies try to capture them, but certain civilians also try to harm them because they know undocumented immigrants can’t report crimes to the authorities without risking exposure of their own legal status. The phrasing that conveys how the characters cannot know “when to leave” but can only know “when it is too dangerous to stay” is repeated later in the text in order to reinforce this idea.

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“A gray truck was idling on the corner by Southboro Park. Two officers in combat gear were pulling away a young woman, her hair over her face. I couldn’t see who it was. I could only see her two little girls running after her. They had matching pigtails, and they were shrieking, their mouths so wide. And yet, they could never be big enough to hold all this pain.

Ernie and I pressed our bodies to Mami’s, the tears pouring down our cheeks. I didn’t know how we could possibly continue like this, just watching all these horrors play out in front of us. These weren’t gory, made-up tales. These were our friends and neighbors being rounded up and carted away. It had to be just a matter of time before we were dragged away too.”


(Chapter 6, Page 77)

This passage develops the motif of fairy-tale magic and “unrealistic” elements by pointing out that, while make-believe stories often contain luck and miracles, they also often contain unimaginable horrors and real or figurative monsters. Here, Vali reflects that the world’s evils have taken on a grotesque, almost fairy-tale quality; they have gotten scarier than she thought was possible.

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“Sad but true: part of me believed that if I cried long enough or loud enough, my mami would hear me and come back. She always had before. But there was no way for her to hear us or piece us back together now. And if I was honest with myself, I had to admit that I was mad at her. Because when she was here, Mami had me convinced she was a superhero. And now I saw how terribly human she was.”


(Chapter 8, Pages 98-99)

As children enter adolescence and start nearing adulthood themselves, adult competence can start to seem less miraculous and more limited. This knowledge is often a crucial step in the coming-of-age process; for Vali, this knowledge is sudden and immediate, representing the harshness of having to grow up quickly under dangerous and difficult circumstances. However, despite her frustration in this moment, Vali will recall that Mami remained resilient through hardship and will grow in resilience because of Mami.

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“Ernie flopped on the ground, crying, ‘I can’t, Vali. I can’t!’

I tried carrying him on my back, but it was brutal. I wasn’t just carrying the fifty-seven pounds of my brother. I was also carrying the kitchen knife, the Bible, the flashlight, the map, the rosary beads, and the soccer ball […]

I was carrying all of Mami’s instructions and directions inside the folds of my brain.

I was carrying those palm-trees visions of California in my heart.

It was too much for me or any one person to carry. I made it maybe a half mile before I tripped over a rock and fell. Taking all of it with me.”


(Chapter 10, Page 110)

Here, Vali lists the heavy physical items she carries, then segues into a list of “heavy” non-physical items that she is also metaphorically “carrying.” Her collapse results from not only the physical weight of her brother and their backpacks, but also the emotional weight of having too many burdens placed on her at once. After resting, she moves on and continues her journey despite carrying more than her fair share of burdens.

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“I wanted to tell my little brother that I was lost and weak with longing too. That I was motherless, fatherless, homeless, groundless, and being actively hunted right now. Plus, somehow, I was in charge of his safety, which felt impossible.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t. It wouldn’t help either of us, really. I looked at Ernie, slumping against one of those bedraggled trees, and just took him in my arms so he could cry. Letting him rage against my shoulder.”


(Chapter 10, Page 120)

From observing Mami in the past, Vali noticed that whenever Ernie asked questions to which the answers were bleak and/or unknown, Mami would always give an answer that allowed Ernie to maintain hope. In Vali’s own attempts to replicate this strategy, she finds herself thinking about all the real answers, but not saying them to Ernie. Rather than simply answering with the truth in the moment, she calculates an answer based on what good can come from that answer. Vali values the truth, but currently, more important than the present truth is hope and faith for the future.

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“Ernie was so excited. He found a book about a superhero dog who lived in New York City and saved everyone from a monster made of slime.

‘That’s gonna be us,’ he said proudly. ‘We’re gonna get to New York City, and find Sister Lottie, and save Mami from the bad guys.’

‘Yes. Yes, we are,’ I said.

Because I didn’t have the heart to tell him that these were all just made-up stories.

It wasn’t like that in the real world.”


(Chapter 10, Page 123)

This passage develops the motif of fairy-tale elements. Currently, Vali still thinks the “real world” operates on different logic than fairy tales and other magical children’s stories. She doesn’t think superheroes are real or that it is reasonable for Ernie to aspire to become one. Although he may not become a superhero dog or save Mami within the course of this novel, Vali learns that people are capable of heroic actions nonetheless, and sees that the real world may not be an actual fairy tale, but sometimes contains fairy-tale elements.

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They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.


(Chapter 19, Page 213)

After Tomas dies, Vali sings this song at his funeral because she remembers Mami singing it. Metaphorically, Tomas is a “seed” of courage, hope, and determination for Vali and others who will remember him this way. Although the human body can die, it is not possible to snuff out someone’s soul or memory if others hold onto it. The deaths of people seeking sanctuary in the book are not in vain, but offer the living the strength, resolve, and courage to continue.

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“And even though there could never be a happily ever after in this world for them, I saw them bound together by a love that transcended life or death.

A love that would carry them from this place into whatever happened next.

A love that would hold them, protect them, even as that flock of drones swooped in overhead.”


(Chapter 19, Pages 216-217)

Vali watches the tragic capture of Rosa and her children, understanding in another hard coming-of-age moment that a mother’s love makes it possible to do impossible things. This quote develops The Power of Family by showing how familial love transcends the law, the given circumstances, and death.

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“As I closed my eyes, I had to admit it did feel a little magical. It was almost like a roller coaster at first, whipping and sending me into some new dimension. I remembered that roller coaster I rode with Mami years ago, back in San Diego. It twisted and turned, tunneling toward some crazy loop-di-loop through fake mountains and enchanted forests. Fairies and lollipops as big as the sky. It made me believe in princesses and magic beanstalks and a giant mouse who could talk.

I thought of that girl in the Mickey Mouse shirt at the border, and my pulse started racing again. Only now, up here, it wasn’t so much that hunted feeling. It was more a sense of momentum. She was so brave, so deliberate. I had to wonder, when she was blown to bits, was it all hot, searing pain? Or could it have felt like a release? Weightless and airborne and free?

Some way, somehow, I wanted to tell that girl that she had given me courage and purpose. That her fifteen steps were not in vain. I didn’t know for sure if we could make it to California. But I did know that her face was giving me some version of hope.”


(Chapter 21, Pages 230-231)

After successfully jumping onto a moving train with no injuries, Vali takes a moment to appreciate this miracle, noting that it does seem almost “magical.” This moment helps to develop the motif of fairy-tale elements that occur throughout the text. She connects this notion to the memory of the girl in the Mickey Mouse shirt who sacrificed her own life in trying valiantly for a better existence. This moment takes the reader back to the opening pages of the novel, providing insight into how far (literally and figuratively) Vali has come.

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“Malakas started talking to me about astronomy again and how he wanted to study exoplanets and galaxy evolution.

‘Whoa.’

‘I just love knowing there are all these other worlds out there. That humans aren’t the center of the universe.’

That definitely made sense to me. Even those DF officers and their drones were powerless against the sun and moon.”


(Chapter 21, Page 234)

Malakas and Vali both take comfort in the idea that the importance of humans is relative in terms of existence. They marvel at both animals on Earth as well as the larger universe, thinking of, the possibilities of building a world without xenophobia or borders.

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“I caught Malakas’s eyes as they filled with tears. I pressed my lips together in a tight, trembling line. This is what I did when my papi was taken too—because I was just too scared that if I opened my mouth I would scream and shriek and tear up this whole world with my rage.”


(Chapter 23, Page 244)

Vali presses her mouth into a straight line when she is emotionally overwhelmed. This stance allows her to maintain control over her emotions and not let them out in screams, which would potentially attract attention. She admires people like Kenna who laugh with wide-open mouths, but she can’t afford to be open all the time. She needs to monitor her own reactions in order to survive.

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“It was unbelievable. There was nothing distinguishing the two of us except where we were born. Through no fault or choice of our own, she was somehow the hunter and I was the prey.

[…]

One day apart, but a lifetime of differences. She kept looking at me and taking deep breaths, her lower lip quivering. She lowered her rifle. Her freckles seemed to sag […] as she whispered […]

‘Go.’”


(Chapter 25, Pages 266-268)

After stealing a moped and approaching a DF checkpoint near the California border, Vali, Malakas, and Ernie are stopped by a teenage DF agent who is one day younger than Vali. This quote highlights the irrationality of using someone’s birthplace to determine which human rights they deserve: Aside from birthplace, little evident difference exists between the girls. The agent lets them go, whispering the same word that Mami mouthed and Rosa said: “Go.” This develops the novel’s recurring motif of fairy-tale elements, with the directive to leave now transcending to a “magic word” that puts freedom and safety within reach.

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“It had only one answer for us now. It was a cool blue ribbon running up through Yuma County, labeled Colorado River.

It had no red dots in it.

It is the miracle, water, Mami had said.”


(Chapter 25, Page 271)

This quote develops the recurring symbol of water, which represents miracles in the novel. Just as Mami drew a blue line resembling a river to lead the children to Sister Lottie, an actual river provides the children safe, landmine-free passage into California. Their scant water rations keep them alive throughout the journey and now water will finish carrying them to safety.

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“The fish swam in every direction, slipping in and out of the algae in their own natural rhythm. Basking in a watery beam of sunlight and then dipping into another pocket of darkness. I knew they had some sort of pecking order on the food chain, but at least it was based on primal urges and hungers. Not hatred and indoctrination. For them, the world was always moving, shifting, changing. Everything evolving, dazzling, and alive.

I remembered Mami telling me and Ernie the story of Genesis. The waters being here before even the earth or the sky. We were each born in a sac of water, she told us. We were made of water. I pictured Papi lifting me onto his shoulder at the beach, treading water below me as I stood on that rock ledge. I felt like they were both with us now. Holding us and guiding us. Washing away everything and everyone chasing us.”


(Chapter 27, Page 278)

This quote further develops water’s symbolism of miracles. Vali imagines that her parents, and everything else, are connected to water, and carry her across the river with the current. She also marvels at the underwater creatures, who coexist without the kinds of social inequalities generated by humans.

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“We were on the other side.

Call it a miracle. Call it a prayer answered. Call it the fight-or-flight rush of adrenaline that gives all creatures the chance to survive.

I call it

Sanctuary.”


(Chapter 27, Page 279)

The phrase “call it” is repeated throughout the novel. In this climactic moment of the story, the use of its repetition illustrates how Vali does not know exactly how she made it across the river into sanctuary; she only knows that it was miraculous. The last line shows how sanctuary is in itself a miracle, even though it is real within the realm of the novel. The line break before the word “sanctuary” emphasizes the importance of this concept, leaving the word alone on its own line so the reader can focus on it intently.

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“This is not a dream.

I am here. Ernie is here. Malakas too.

The rescue team is wrapping huge blankets around us that smell like fabric softener. I’m bundled up in a girl’s comforter that has pictures on it of some cartoon princess in a pink tutu and sparkly crown. Ernie is tucked into a navy blanket with pictures of rockets. Malakas gets brown and green stripes.”


(Chapter 28, Page 280)

At the beginning of Chapter 28, after Vali, Ernie, and Malakas safely make it across the Colorado River into the sanctuary state of California, the tense of the narration switches from past to present. This tense shift marks an important moment of change in Vali’s coming-of-age journey: She is no longer on the run from the government as an undocumented immigrant. Instead, she has reached her destination of sanctuary and won’t be hunted anymore. This quote also develops the recurring motif of fairy-tale elements because Vali is wrapped in a fairy-tale princess blanket, which symbolizes her good fortune.

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“As the water glides over our toes, it feels cool, but not cold. The water stretches for miles in so many directions—lapping at the shores of the Other 49, reaching toward the sky when it feels that pull, connecting us to maybe everyone we love.”


(Chapter 30, Page 303)

This final passage in the novel solidifies The Power of Family and the interconnectedness of the universe. Vali reasons that everyone is connected and that she is still “with” her parents, if not physically. Because of this emotional connection, though, she still longs for a physical connection, and feels an almost gravitational pull toward her mother, who is still somewhere in the Other 49. The novel ends on an elliptical note, with Vali’s future and Mami’s fate still uncertain. This allows the reader to imagine how exactly the future might play out. The novel ends on a hopeful note indicated through a reminder by the symbolic presence of water that miracles are possible.

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