Previous
Carol
Cecil is the first border officer that the narrator and his mother meet on their journey to visit Laetitia in Salt Lake City. An older man with grey hair, Cecil carries a gun on his hip, which the narrator finds intimidating. When the narrator’s mother stands firm in her answer of “Blackfoot” to Cecil’s questions about her citizenship, he tries to rephrase his words into a question that she could answer without compromising her pride. However, the narrator’s mother keeps her answer the same, and Cecil refuses to let them cross the border.
Cecil Quotes in Borders
The Borders quotes below are all either spoken by Cecil or refer to Cecil. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Borders Quotes
In about five minutes, another guard came out with the first man. They were talking as they came, both men swaying back and forth like two cowboys headed for a bar or a gun fight.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
We sat on a wood bench for about an hour before anyone came over to talk to us. This time it was a woman. She had a gun, too.
“Hi. I’m Inspector Pratt. I understand there is a little misunderstanding.”
“I’m going to visit my daughter in Salt Lake City. We don’t have any guns or beer.”
“It’s a legal technicality, that’s all.”
“My daughter’s Blackfoot, too.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Borders LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Cecil Character Timeline in Borders
The timeline below shows where the character Cecil appears in Borders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Borders
...U.S.-Canada border and are greeted by the border guard on duty, an old man named Cecil who wears a gun in a holster on his hip. Cecil approaches the car with...
(full context)
Then, Cecil asks the narrator’s mother the last question: “Citizenship?” She hesitates for a moment, and then...
(full context)
Cecil asks the narrator and his mother to wait in their car and returns to the...
(full context)
Sharing a look with Cecil, the bearded guard rephrases Cecil’s question to the narrator’s mother. This time, the guard asks...
(full context)
Through car windows, the narrator sees the guards’ crossed arms as they confer. Cecil and the bearded guard tell the narrator and his mother to park next to the...
(full context)
