Quote 55
We were stopped by Immigration about a hundred miles this side of the New Mexico border. Mattie had warned me of this possibility and we had all prepared for it as best we could. Esperanza and Estevan were dressed about as American as you could get without looking plain obnoxious: he had on jeans and an alligator shirt donated from some church on the east side where people gave away stuff that was entirely a cut above New To You. Esperanza was wearing purple culottes, a yellow T-shirt, and sunglasses with pink frames. (14.1)
What is it, exactly, about Estevan and Esperanza's outfits that makes them seem so quintessentially "American"? Do they sound kind of like hipsters, and is that what makes America America?
Quote 56
Estevan and I talked about everything you could think of. He asked me if the alligator was a national symbol of the United States, because you saw them everywhere on people's shirts, just above the heart.
"Not that I know of," I told him. It occurred to me, though, that it might be kind of appropriate. (14.21-22)
Although neither Estevan nor Taylor recognize Lacoste branding when they see it (which means he's looking a bit more preppy than hipster on this fine day), this passage is a neat little window into the power of corporate branding. Symbolically, what would the alligator (or crocodile) meanif it really were a national symbol of the United States? How would you compare it to, say, the bald eagle? Why didn't Lacoste want a bird above the shirts on those gorgeous pastel-hued polos of theirs?
Quote 57
It must have been a very long time since Esperanza and Estevan had been in a place where they looked just like everybody else, including cops. The relief showed in their bodies. I believe they actually grew taller. And Turtle fit right in too; this was her original home. I was the odd woman out. (15.3)
As Taylor, Estevan, Esperanza, and Turtle drive further into Cherokee Nation territory, Estevan and Esperanza are visibly relieved to be in a place where they're no longer two people of color alone in a sea of white. If you compare their lived experience as refugees and people of color to Virgie Mae and Granny Logan's certainty that America is being "overrun" by illegal aliens and foreigners, what stands out?