The author of the book. Davis largely absents himself from the narrative, with one exception. Davis breaks the story about Oscar, Cristian, Lorenzo, and Luis for Wired for the first time in 2005. As a result, readers from all over the country send money to chip in for the students’ college education, ultimately raising over $120,000. To Davis, it is also important to tell both sides of the students’ story: the successes and the struggles. He makes a point of noting how the movie version of their story ends in triumph, while real life is much more complicated than that. For him, the book is a way of showing how much potential kids can have—even undocumented kids from a poor neighborhood—but how as a result of the U.S.’s immigration policies, that potential is currently being thrown away.
Joshua Davis Quotes in Spare Parts
The Spare Parts quotes below are all either spoken by Joshua Davis or refer to Joshua Davis. 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:
).
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
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Spare Parts LitChart as a printable PDF.
Joshua Davis Character Timeline in Spare Parts
The timeline below shows where the character Joshua Davis appears in Spare Parts. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
One
Davis jumps to describing Lorenzo’s early childhood. When he is a few months old, his mother...
(full context)
Davis delves more deeply into Carl Hayden High School’s and West Phoenix’s history. In 1965, the...
(full context)
Davis then turns to Cristian’s childhood, growing up in Mexicali, Mexico. He is a small, skinny...
(full context)
Davis describes Fredi’s own journey to the United States. Fredi is born in Tehran, Iran, in...
(full context)
Four
In April 2005, Davis publishes an article in Wired detailing the championship. Many readers write to express their support...
(full context)
...Lorenzo isn’t able to save his home, and in 2009 his family is evicted. Meanwhile, Davis notes, the MIT students from the 2004 MATE competition excel in prestigious engineering jobs and...
(full context)
...The film ends when the awards for the 2004 MATE competition are announced. In reality, Davis writes, life is more complicated. The attention paid to their victory had coincided with a...
(full context)
...and Cristian apply for protection under the order, which buys them temporary safety. But, as Davis writes, “the next president could quickly end the program.”
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...construction projects that have slowed in Phoenix due to lack of labor. To some people, Davis writes, these are positive developments.
(full context)
...Lorenzo’s father Pablo arriving at the MATE awards ceremony, hugging Lorenzo and crying with joy. Davis describes how he had stood next to the real Lorenzo during the filming of the...
(full context)
