Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Clap When You Land, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family
Secrets
Grief
Money, Security, and Immigration
Growing Up and Sexual Violence
Summary
Analysis
Camino is pretty sure she hates Yahaira when Yahaira messages that she bought a plane ticket. She says it so easily; she didn’t have to fill out a bunch of paperwork or deal with people wondering if she’d overstay her visa. Papi worked for years to get Camino to the States, but Yahaira has it so easy. She has a “blue book,” “an entire welcome mat to the world.” Zoila won’t let Yahaira come, so Yahaira plans to sneak out. Camino knows that if she did that, Tía would kill her, ask the Saints to bring her back, and then kill her again. Camino wants to hate Yahaira, but she has to admire her guts. She only hopes that Yahaira will admire what Camino knows she must do to “get there.”
Camino resents her sister for being so much more privileged than she is. It seems like nothing to Yahaira to have access to money and a passport—but these are the very things that are keeping Camino from achieving her dreams of attending college in the U.S., so she’s very attuned to how powerful these two things are. It creates tension when Camino hopes that Yahaira will admire Camino for what Camino must do—presumably, Camino has some plan to get herself to the U.S., the “there” she refers to.
Themes
Forty Days After. Carline gave birth three weeks ago, but Camino still visits her every few days, carrying bundles of vitamins and diapers on her head. Mamá used to talk about carrying mangoes like this, so Camino pretends she’s Mamá. Camino is wearing a hand-me-down pair of Jordans she thinks were probably Yahaira’s—Papi probably brought Camino lots of Yahaira’s old clothes. At the house, Carline is alone with sleeping Luciano. If they lived elsewhere, Luciano would still be in the ICU—but Carline’s family are “Kreyòl-speaking folk” who can’t afford the money or stress of a hospital stay. Carline won’t say it, but she clearly expects her tiny baby to die.
Once again, Camino can’t help but see how privileged Yahaira is next to her, and next to the other people in Camino’s neighborhood. It’s not a direct correlation, but Camino isn’t privy to the racism and sexism that Yahaira experiences in the U.S.—so for now, Camino is unable to see that she, her community members, and Yahaira experience some of the same kinds of racism and discrimination (though to different degrees).
Themes
Carline accepts Camino’s gift and nods when Camino asks to check Luciano, though Camino can tell she’s nervous to let even her friend touch and potentially hurt her baby. Tía has taught Camino how to check babies for fever and infection. Carline says that Nelson is working hard, trying to save enough for a new place to live. He might drop out of school. This is so common: it's a fairy tale here that things turn out all right. So, instead of offering platitudes, Camino does chores.
Carline and Camino imply that in the Dominican Republic, there’s really very little hope: Luciano will likely die, and Carline and her family will never escape their crushing poverty no matter how hard Nelson works. Camino sees this as realistic, not fatalistic, and this suggests that she’s losing hope that she’s ever going to get out of the Dominican Republic.
Themes
Around here, it’s also common for men like Papi to have two families. Yahaira seemed totally blindsided and betrayed to learn this about Papi, but Camino knows that men can “have many faces” and make silly decisions and keep secrets. Camino doesn’t say any of this to Carline as she hands Luciano back and promises to check in next week. When Carline asks if Camino heard back from Yahaira, Camino doesn’t know what to say—she doesn’t want to burden Carline, and she’s ashamed. Papi is a secret now.
Thanks to Camino’s lived experience, she realizes that people—men specifically—keep secrets, so she’s not so surprised to find out that Papi had another wife and daughter elsewhere. In this sense, she may be coping better than Yahaira. But as she decides to keep her conversation with her sister a secret from Carline, Camino begins keeping secrets herself—and her shame suggests that this isn’t healthy or helpful.
Themes
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Camino just wants Papi back. She wants him to laugh, knock on the door, and pepper his speech with odd English phrases. There are bits of Papi all over the neighborhood—and all over the Dominican Republic. He’s even all over New York City, but Camino can’t bring all those pieces together and bring them to life in some form that resembles Papi.
Finally, Camino admits outright that she’s still grieving. She has in no way moved on from Papi’s death, and she’s still trying to figure out some way to bring him back or keep his memory alive. Being willing to admit this suggests that perhaps Camino is becoming more open to speaking about her grief.
Themes
The news has moved on from covering the plane crash. But people in the neighborhood keep candles lit in their windows, and people often ask Camino if they need anything. The rest of the world has moved on, but people here are still waiting for more information—or to learn that this is a nightmare, and they’ll eventually wake up.
While the tragedy is old news for newscasters, it remains current, relevant, and painful for everyone in Camino’s neighborhood (and for everyone in New York, as well). This highlights that people grieve at different rates—and people don’t stop grieving just when their loved one’s death stops making the news.
Themes
Forty-Two Days After. Camino’s skin itches because she misses the ocean so much, but she forces herself to help Tía make cough syrup and go on her rounds. Finally, Tía accuses Camino of daydreaming. Tía asks when Camino last swam and says that Camino is just like Mamá, who was happiest near the water. Camino knows she can’t avoid the beach forever. The smell of her freshly washed swimsuit is comforting.
Readers know that Camino is avoiding the beach because she fears running into El Cero there, but Camino doesn’t feel comfortable telling Tía this. The weight of keeping this secret, combined with the stress of not being able to swim, makes Camino irritable and causes her to lose focus.
Themes
Camino’s arms feel like wings as she swims through the “liquid sky.” She swims quickly until she’s exhausted and needs to rest, and then she floats on her back and watches the moon in the afternoon sky. But when Camino looks at the sand, El Cero is there. He notes that Camino was swimming really fast. Camino ignores him as she puts her shorts on. She tries to ignore that he's staring at her backside.
Note the language Camino uses: Camino describes flying through a kind of sky while she’s in the water enjoying her swim, but she seems to abruptly and painfully come back to earth when she notices El Cero. He’s causing the beach to take on negative connotations for her, as she can no longer comfortably blow off steam there.
Themes
El Cero asks if Camino wants him to beg. Camino thinks that bodies are “a funny piece of meat.” A body deflates or inflates, and certain words can fill a person up or make them go flat. El Cero gives Camino goosebumps, and not the good kind. They’re the kind of goosebumps that scream for her to run away. Camino tells El Cero she wants nothing from him, but he says Camino needs him.
Camino knows instinctively that El Cero is dangerous; this is why he manages to cause her to “deflate” and gives her awful goosebumps. Her body, perhaps helped along by Tía’s Saints, is trying to protect her from the harm she knows he poses to her.
Themes
Camino gets caught in the rain. When she gets home, Tía is stirring a huge pot of stew. Tía points to the tablet and says it’s been chirping; Camino needs to turn the volume down on it. Camino realizes that she hasn’t asked Tía how she’s doing since Papi’s death. On the tablet, Camino finds notifications that she’s missed video calls from Yahaira. Camino’s palms sweat. Is she ready to speak to Yahaira?
Here, Camino briefly experiences a moment of great maturity as she suddenly realizes that Tía is, like her, grieving for Papi. Camino is already more mature than Yahaira in many ways, but both girls are going through the same process of realizing their adult caregivers have rich inner lives, just as they do.
Themes
Camino and Yahaira are supposed to talk after dinner, but Camino dawdles in the kitchen past the appointed time. Then, once Tía has gone to her room, Camino takes the tablet to the porch, where the Wi-Fi is faintest. She almost wants a reason not to talk to Yahaira. Camino has already missed two calls, but Yahaira calls back five minutes later. When she comes into focus, Camino’s heart stops: she looks almost exactly like Papi. She’s also pretty and well-fed, but best of all, Camino knows she and Yahaira look like sisters. Neither girl says anything. Camino traces Yahaira’s face with her finger. She doesn’t feel like she’s experienced a loss. Rather, she feels like Papi’s death has given her a sister.
The call is emotional for Camino—she has no idea what Yahaira is going to be like, and she’s already come up with lots of reasons to dislike her sister. However, when Camino finally comes face to face with Yahaira, all she can see is what she’s gaining. In a way, she is gaining a connection to Papi, since Yahaira resembles Papi so much. But more significantly, Camino is suddenly able to see something good coming from Papi’s death. Finally, she knows the truth—and she has the opportunity to form a relationship with her sister, someone she had no idea existed.
Themes
