Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Circuit, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Change and Instability
Immigrants, Discrimination, and Injustice
Childhood vs. Adulthood
Family and Community
Summary
Analysis
Francisco’s family drives to Corcoran to find work in the cotton fields. They stop at three different farms to ask for work before they finally find employment and a one-room cabin to live in at the fourth farm. After dinner, Papá gets the sacks ready for picking cotton—he has a 12-foot-long sack for himself and slightly smaller ones for Mamá and for Roberto. Francisco is upset that he doesn’t have his own sack, but Papá says that he’s still too little for one.
Francisco’s family never knows when or where they will be employed next, which is a constant source of stress for them. Papá, especially, is always worried about this, since he is the family’s primary breadwinner, and he is very grateful when they do find work. He enthusiastically prepares for the next day’s labor, which shows how eager he is to work and make money for the family.
Themes
Papá mends his sack and then tries it out, tying it around his waist and pretending to bend and pick cotton. He asks Mamá to try hers out too. As the sack trails behind her, she begins to laugh, saying that it looks like a fancy wedding dress. Francisco and Roberto laugh too, but Papá is not amused. The family goes to bed on their one mattress, snuggling to keep warm on the cold night. Papá keeps his aspirin and cigarettes close to him.
The responsibility—and the anxiety—of earning money for the family is chiefly Papá’s. This is why he is always very stressed out and sees no humor in their situation. Meanwhile, Mamá, Roberto, and Francisco take things a little more lightly, since they follow Papá’s lead with regard to work.
Themes
It rains heavily that night, which wakes Francisco several times. Every time he wakes up, he sees the glowing red tip of Papá’s cigarette or hears the rattle of the aspirin bottle. Francisco doesn’t mind the rain, because this means he can sleep in the next morning. The cotton farmers don’t allow the laborers to pick cotton on rainy days since the cotton would be too wet to pick. The farmers pay the workers for the cotton by weight, and the cotton weighs more when it is rain-soaked.
Francisco and Papá have very different reactions to the rain. To Francisco, the rain means that he gets to sleep in the next morning and skip work, and he appreciates this. Papá, however, gets increasingly worried as the rain gets heavier, since he knows that no work means no money. Francisco is a child and is unconcerned about the family finances—his primary concern is his own comfort and well-being.
Themes
Francisco wakes up late the next morning. Papá is red-eyed and upset, and he curses the rain. Mamá makes tortillas and beans for breakfast, and after eating, the children quietly play games and tell stories while Papá takes a nap. Mamá says that he isn’t feeling well. The rain finally stops on Friday, and by then, Papá’s aspirin is all gone, and a pile of cigarette butts litters his side of the mattress.
While Francisco enjoys his chance to sleep in, Papá becomes increasingly distressed by the rain. In the morning, it is clear to the family that Papá has been worrying all night and hasn’t slept at all. Even the young children play quietly in their tiny cabin to give him a chance to catch up on his sleep, which shows how they come together as a family to help one another out. Papá smokes cigarettes to relax, and his continual use of aspirin suggests that he’s suffering from physical pain as well.
Themes
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Early on Saturday morning, the labor contractor drives around the row of cabins in his truck, honking loudly to let the laborers know that the cotton is ready to be picked. To Francisco, this means that he has to go to work too, since he doesn’t have school that day. Papá, who usually hates noise, perks up at the sound of the contractor’s horn. The family quickly gets ready and piles into their car that Papá affectionately calls the Carcachita, which means “old car.” They follow the contractor’s truck as he drives to the cotton field.
Once again, Francisco and Papá have different reactions to the opportunity to return to work. Francisco is disappointed that it happens to be a weekend—he might have been able to avoid going to work if it was a school day, but since it is a Saturday, he has to work in the fields with his family. Papá, on the other hand, is energized and excited by the opportunity to go to work. He has been fretting about the fact that they can’t work and earn money, and he is happy that they can finally do so.
Themes
When they reach the field, Papá, Mamá, Roberto, and Francisco get out. Trampita stays behind in the car to take care of the youngest children—Torito, Rubén, and Rorra (their newborn sister). Papá says that it’s a good crop, and he warns Francisco that cotton bolls are like roses—they’re pretty, but they can hurt because they’re sharp. The contractor quickly checks the cotton to make sure it’s completely dry, and he then gives the laborers the signal to get to work.
At the beginning of the novel, Francisco had to take care of Trampita while his parents and Roberto went to work in the cotton fields. Back then, Francisco couldn’t wait to be old enough to join them and pick cotton with them. Now that he is old enough to work in the fields, however, he isn’t eager to do it. Even though he’d yearned for this change—to grow up and work—he is not excited about it when it comes to pass.
Themes
All the workers except Francisco have their own sacks and their own rows to work in. Francisco first helps Mamá, going ahead of her and leaving a pile of picked cotton on the ground for her to gather and add to her bag. Francisco then does the same for Papá. He doesn’t need to help Roberto, since Roberto works really fast. When Mamá’s sack becomes too heavy for her to drag around, Roberto and Francisco take it over to the weigh station to be emptied. Roberto carries the front, while Francisco helps him by lifting the end off of the ground. The sack is very heavy, so they take breaks as they walk the quarter mile to the weigh station.
Even though Francisco is old enough to work in the fields, he is still too young to have his own sack for picking cotton, since he cannot work as fast as the others. He feels this difference keenly and seems to think it is a badge of honor to have his own sack. Still, Francisco works hard and assists his parents in the field. Even though he wasn’t excited about it going to work when he woke up in the morning, he understands that it’s important for the family and does his part to contribute.
Themes
The contractor at the weigh station compliments Roberto, saying he is very strong for a young boy, and he asks him how old he is. Roberto says that he’s almost 15. The contractor weighs the sack and writes “90” in a notebook, next to Francisco’s family’s last name. Roberto then climbs the trailer and empties the sack into it. Papá carries his own sack to the weigh station, but Roberto empties it for him, since Papá has a bad back. At the end of the day, the contractor gives Papá $18—the family has picked 600 pounds of cotton. Papá is pleased.
Even though Roberto is only four years older than Francisco, he is not only much stronger but also more emotionally mature than him. Since Roberto is the oldest child in the family, his parents entrust him with a lot of responsibility and work. This seems to have forced Roberto to grow up quickly in order to meet their expectations of him.
Themes
By the middle of November, all the cotton in the field has been picked. The contractor tells Papá that the family can continue to live in the cabin until the second picking, or la bola, which will be in two or three weeks. La bola is hard, messy work, since everything left on the plants has to be harvested—including leaves, cotton bulbs, and shells. The contractor tells the family that they can find work on other farms until la bola.
No matter how hard the family works, their periods of relative financial security are always very short. The seasons change, and after they harvest the fields, they need to make plans to move on. After the second picking, they will need to pack up once again to find work somewhere else.
Themes
On the days it doesn’t rain, Papá, Mamá, and Roberto drive off to find work in other fields. Francisco and Trampita get to go to school on weekdays, and they work in the fields on holidays and weekends. On Thanksgiving morning, Papá, Roberto, and Francisco drive out to find a field to work in. Francisco is determined to prove to his father that he deserves to get his own sack. Most of the fields have already been harvested, and on that cold morning, the leftover cotton fibers are frozen.
Even though the labor contractor lets the family live in the cabin while they wait for the second picking, they do not have any work on the farm until then, which means that the laborers cannot pick cotton to earn money. This is why the family drives out to seek whatever work they can. They need the money, and everyone—even young Trampita—contributes to this effort.
Themes
Papá drives toward some smoke that he spots in the distance, and they find some laborers huddled around a fire. Papá asks the foreman for work, and the foreman tells them they can start anytime but advises them to wait until it warms up, like the other laborers are doing. Papá tells Francisco and Roberto that they can wait around the fire—but Papá decides to get started, and Roberto goes with him. Francisco thinks that this is a good opportunity to prove that he’s worthy of getting his own sack, so he follows Papá and Roberto into the field.
Papá, as usual, is serious about working as much as possible to earn money when he has the opportunity, which is why he begins working right away on this freezing morning. Roberto is very responsible and is physically stronger than even Papá, which is why he joins in. Francisco decides to join them to prove that he, too, is strong and grown-up. But Unlike Papá and Roberto, who work hard to provide for the family, Francisco only wants to work to impress them.
Themes
Francisco starts picking in Papá’s row to help him— but in seconds, Francisco’s fingers are numb, and the skin on his hands turns purple. He feels the urge to urinate, and he relieves himself on his hands to try to warm them up. However, Francisco’s hands have several cuts from the sharp cotton pods, and the salt from his urine makes them burn like fire. Right after, the urine freezes on his hands and they feel like ice. Francisco can’t work anymore, so he disappointedly walks over to Papá. Papá “straighten[s] up and look[s] down” at him and tells him to go over to the fire. Roberto, meanwhile, is still bravely working. Francisco understands that he hasn’t yet earned his own sack.
Francisco is taken aback when he discovers how difficult it is to work in the freezing cold, and he ends up making a series of bad decisions that worsen his situation. Clearly, he isn’t yet physically or emotionally strong enough to have his own cotton sack. While he is very disappointed when he realizes this, Papá, too, seems disappointed in him—he “look[s] down” on Francisco when he tells him to go the fire, which implies that Papá disapproves of him.
Themes
