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Chapter 8
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in American Dirt, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Trauma
Survival, Grief, and Resilience
Self-Determination, Uncertainty, and Chance
Motherhood
Forced Migration
Summary
Analysis
In the present, for three days, Lydia and Luca hide in Carlos’s house while Carlos’ family goes on with their day-to-day life. While Lucas reads, Lydia keeps herself busy. She spends a lot of time on the computer. At first, she tries to find updates on the investigation into her family’s massacre, but she learns nothing. She also makes plans for what they’ll do after they leave Mexico City. Lydia is reluctant to board a flight—everything is digital, and Javier would have plenty of time to send a goon after them. As there are no passenger trains in Mexico, she researches the freight train used by migrants to get north. The train’s nickname is “La Bestia” because of the potential for violence and horror along the way.
Lydia and Luca are both dealing with aftereffects of grief and trauma. While Lydia, copes by keeping busy, Luca copes by retreating into the imaginary world of books. Their individual responses illustrate how trauma and grief can affect different people in different ways. Still, Lydia does need to make a plan for how she and Luca will leave the country. Not only is the cartel’s influence widespread, but the digitization of air travel also complicates things, as it makes it more difficult for her and Luca to stay incognito. The fact that Lydia is now considering “La Bestia” as a method of transportation illustrates her desperation.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
Luca has since stopped talking. Lydia remembers how quiet he was as a very young child: he did not speak until he was four years old. She’d always read to him, and when she suspected he might have a learning disability, she read with a pronounced sense of urgency, hoping it would help. Then, right around his fourth birthday, Luca spoke to her in a perfectly formed, complex sentence. Lydia was enthralled. But now Luca is silent again; meanwhile, Lydia struggles to quiet her own mind.
The trauma that Luca has recently endured causes him to retreat inward. On the one hand, Luca’s silence could indicate his grief. But his silence makes literal the unspeakable nature of traumatic events, the details of which can be difficult to communicate with words.
Active
Themes
On Wednesday, the three church vans leave Chilpancingo for Mexico City. Lydia and Luca ride in the back of the van Carlos is driving. Lydia has decided they will fly from Mexico City; she and Luca take only their backpacks in order to avoid any unnecessary waiting. In her van, the missionaries, all teenage girls, are wearing French braids. Realizing she stands out in her ponytail, Lydia lets one of the girls braid her hair. The missionaries begin singing loudly, and Lydia convinces Luca to lie down at her feet and take a nap.
Active
Themes
When they get to the roadblock, the missionaries stop singing. Though part of them was looking forward to experiencing the thrill of a roadblock, the reality is that roadblocks are scary. Young boys armed with AR15s stand on either side of the van and question Carlos. They ultimately buy the lie that Lydia is a counselor named Mariana; she sits in the back because one of the girls is sick. The boys tap the van, and Carlos hands them a wad of bills with a blessing. As the boy jefe walks off, Lydia sees the tattoo of a machete behind his left ear, confirming they are members of Los Jardineros. Only thirty minutes later, when Luca crawls up to sit next her, is Lydia able to relax.
Active
Themes
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