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Chapter 10
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Infinite Country, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Myth and Identity
Racism and Xenophobia
Laws vs. Morals
Family
Violence Against Women
Summary
Analysis
After Mauro is deported, Elena mourns for the possibilities for her family in the States if Mauro had not gotten arrested. Instead of staying in Dante and Yamira’s house as a family, Elena moves with her children into a room shared with another family, which Yamira helped her find. The Moldovan man with whom Elena and her family share the new accommodation often violates Elena, looking at her and masturbating while his wife sleeps next to him. Elena begins to have nightmares again, centering around a Colombian news item in which a young girl was trapped under a mudflow.
Elena’s undocumented status exacerbates the struggles she endures as a practical single mother. The Moldovan man’s violating behavior suggests society’s broader disrespect for women. Elena’s nightmares reflects her stress at trying to make a life for her family in nearly impossible circumstances.
Active
Themes
