Spare Parts

by

Joshua Davis

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Cristian Arcega Character Analysis

One of the four students who compete in the MATE competition as a part of the Carl Hayden robotics club, along with Oscar, Lorenzo, and Luis. Cristian is the brains of the operation. He grew up in Mexico as a skinny kid with allergies, and so he mostly stayed indoors and took apart any technology he could get his hands on. When he is five years old, Cristian’s family drives across the U.S. border. He struggles in elementary school, but when he starts to pick up the language, he quickly excels in every class. Cristian joins the robotics club as a freshman, and he takes the lead on the scientific calculations and programs that need to go into making the robot (though sometimes his ideas about how to build the robot are too expensive or outlandish to be feasible). After the robotics competition and he graduates from high school, Cristian also attends Arizona State University. But when his tuition increases, he is unable to receive the same support from the school that Oscar does and he is forced to drop out. At the end of the book, Cristian is working at Home Depot and inventing things in his room at night. His story is placed in direct contrast to Oscar, and also to the students on MIT’s robotics team. Even though Cristian has just as much intelligence and talent as they do, the failures of the immigration system mean his promise is largely wasted.

Cristian Arcega Quotes in Spare Parts

The Spare Parts quotes below are all either spoken by Cristian Arcega or refer to Cristian Arcega. 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:
Underdogs and Overcoming Odds Theme Icon
).
Introduction Quotes

There were teams from across the country, including students from MIT, who were sponsored by ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded company. The Latino kids were from Carl Hayden Community High School in West Phoenix.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:

As a NASA employee, she had become accustomed to working with engineers who conformed to a sort of industry standard: white, well educated, conservative clothes. These four teenagers standing in front of her signaled that the future looked different.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Tom Swean, Lisa Spence
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
One Quotes

I've got to create something that doesn't compete with other science centers; it's got to compete with the World Series and the Super Bowl. I’ve got to find a way to make science and technology cool.

Related Characters: Dean Kamen (speaker), Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi
Page Number: 64
Explanation and Analysis:
Two Quotes

The whole point was to give the guys a chance to accomplish something beyond what they thought possible. But if they showed up at the event and failed utterly, it would only reinforce the impression that they didn't belong in the contest in the first place. That could leave a kid such as Lorenzo with a permanent sense of inferiority.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:

For Lorenzo, the robotics team was like a new family. In some respects, Fredi and Allan were surrogate parents, constantly advising him and pushing him to do better. […] A team spirit had developed. Lorenzo wasn't the only one sitting in the front row of his classes.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:

Fredi was impressed. It was a practical, cheap, and ingenious solution. […]

“You did it,” Fredi said, clapping Lorenzo on the shoulder.

Lorenzo responded with a big smile. “I did it.”

Related Characters: Lorenzo Santillan (speaker), Fredi Lajvardi (speaker), Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:

“It needs a name,” Lorenzo said.
Oscar remembered Lorenzo’s choking on the glue fumes and suggested, “Why don’t we call it Stinky?”

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez (speaker), Lorenzo Santillan (speaker), Cristian Arcega, Luis Aranda
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

The group also offered some of the same benefits of being in a gang. Now that he hung out with Luis on campus, Lorenzo found that other students were less likely to make fun of him.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Three Quotes

It reminded them that they were doing something they had never done before. In Phoenix, they were called illegal aliens and pegged as criminals. They were alternately viewed as American, Mexican, or neither. Now, for a moment, they were simply teenagers at a robotics competition by the ocean.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 158
Explanation and Analysis:

Stinky represented this low-tech approach to engineering. But that was exactly what had impressed the judges.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Lisa Spence
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Four Quotes

“If the really long list of immigrant inventors who have made this country and the world a much better place is to stop here and now, we will also likely become the newest declining nation,” one reader commented.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Joshua Davis
Page Number: 186
Explanation and Analysis:

In reality, life is more complicated. The attention paid to the team as a result of their victory coincided with a backlash against immigrants in Arizona.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis:
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Cristian Arcega Quotes in Spare Parts

The Spare Parts quotes below are all either spoken by Cristian Arcega or refer to Cristian Arcega. 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:
Underdogs and Overcoming Odds Theme Icon
).
Introduction Quotes

There were teams from across the country, including students from MIT, who were sponsored by ExxonMobil, the world's largest publicly traded company. The Latino kids were from Carl Hayden Community High School in West Phoenix.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:

As a NASA employee, she had become accustomed to working with engineers who conformed to a sort of industry standard: white, well educated, conservative clothes. These four teenagers standing in front of her signaled that the future looked different.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Tom Swean, Lisa Spence
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
One Quotes

I've got to create something that doesn't compete with other science centers; it's got to compete with the World Series and the Super Bowl. I’ve got to find a way to make science and technology cool.

Related Characters: Dean Kamen (speaker), Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi
Page Number: 64
Explanation and Analysis:
Two Quotes

The whole point was to give the guys a chance to accomplish something beyond what they thought possible. But if they showed up at the event and failed utterly, it would only reinforce the impression that they didn't belong in the contest in the first place. That could leave a kid such as Lorenzo with a permanent sense of inferiority.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:

For Lorenzo, the robotics team was like a new family. In some respects, Fredi and Allan were surrogate parents, constantly advising him and pushing him to do better. […] A team spirit had developed. Lorenzo wasn't the only one sitting in the front row of his classes.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:

Fredi was impressed. It was a practical, cheap, and ingenious solution. […]

“You did it,” Fredi said, clapping Lorenzo on the shoulder.

Lorenzo responded with a big smile. “I did it.”

Related Characters: Lorenzo Santillan (speaker), Fredi Lajvardi (speaker), Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:

“It needs a name,” Lorenzo said.
Oscar remembered Lorenzo’s choking on the glue fumes and suggested, “Why don’t we call it Stinky?”

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez (speaker), Lorenzo Santillan (speaker), Cristian Arcega, Luis Aranda
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 138
Explanation and Analysis:

The group also offered some of the same benefits of being in a gang. Now that he hung out with Luis on campus, Lorenzo found that other students were less likely to make fun of him.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
Three Quotes

It reminded them that they were doing something they had never done before. In Phoenix, they were called illegal aliens and pegged as criminals. They were alternately viewed as American, Mexican, or neither. Now, for a moment, they were simply teenagers at a robotics competition by the ocean.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Fredi Lajvardi, Allan Cameron
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 158
Explanation and Analysis:

Stinky represented this low-tech approach to engineering. But that was exactly what had impressed the judges.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Lisa Spence
Related Symbols: Stinky the Robot
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Four Quotes

“If the really long list of immigrant inventors who have made this country and the world a much better place is to stop here and now, we will also likely become the newest declining nation,” one reader commented.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, Joshua Davis
Page Number: 186
Explanation and Analysis:

In reality, life is more complicated. The attention paid to the team as a result of their victory coincided with a backlash against immigrants in Arizona.

Related Characters: Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda
Page Number: 219
Explanation and Analysis: