Solito

Chapter 9 and the Epilogue sum up the last of the events, bringing closure to Zamora’s narrative. Chapter 9 shows the vast difference that having a professional team of guides can make for the safety and success of those crossing the border. As a white man, Ramón could easily scout the US side of the border and discover the best places to stop, hide, and move. This reflects the racism at play in policing the border; white individuals are seen as less suspicious than those of Latinx descent, even though a white person, like Ramón, could just as easily be working with the traffickers. Furthermore, they kept the group to a size they could handle, where not one of them would be in charge of too many of the migrants. They also appear to have had better signals, and the pollero waited for the group to fully reassemble before they moved further on ahead. The ethical dilemma arises because these individuals are human traffickers: They are paid to smuggle people into the US, and the memoir shows that many traffickers have no regard for the lives of those they transport. Ramón and his men are conscientious about the safety of their migrants, but this may come from having a sound business model rather than from compassion. All in all, it is hard to ascertain the motivations of the coyotes and polleros, whether some of them actually want to help people find safety or whether they merely exploit people for the money. Ultimately, Ramón and his polleros reunite Javier with his parents, which for Javier and so many others like him, is all that matters. In a way, Zamora’s memoir shows American readers that finding one’s family is the primary concern for migrants, and it doesn’t matter whether officials, humanitarians, coyotes, or traffickers make that happen.

The final section of the memoir highlights the importance of belief in helping Javier and the others psychologically endure their experience. During their third and last attempt, the Four remind themselves that, “la tercera es la vencida” (“The third time’s the charm” [351]). The quote shows the importance of belief in the supernatural and superstition to give them hope in an impossible situation. For the entire journey, Javier held onto the belief that a cadejo (a protective dog-spirit) was watching over him. He also prayed often with Patricia. In a situation where they had almost no agency, Javier and the others sought comfort in beings, spirits, and objects (e.g., the moon) that were more powerful than the uncontrollable situation. In the Epilogue, however, Zamora emphasizes that human strength and endurance are what allowed them to reach their goal. He does not like to consider Patricia and Chino as guardian angels: “Mom likes to call them my ‘angels,’ but I worry that takes away their humanity and their nonreligious capacity for love and compassion they showed a stranger” (380). This distinction is critical for the message of his memoir that highlights the difficulties facing everyday human beings and how they are able to find the strength deep within themselves to overcome those difficulties and the strength of migrants, like ants in a rainstorm, who hold onto each other no matter what.