Previous
Soledad
Themes
and Colors
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
When Francisco asks Roberto about his first year at school, Roberto says that he was hit with a ruler because he didn’t follow directions. He says that he couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying, since he didn’t know any English. Roberto sounds angry as he says this, and Francisco wishes he hadn’t asked him. However, Roberto is the only one in the family who has attended school, so Francisco has no one else to ask.
Francisco is excited about starting school, but Roberto’s descriptions dampen his enthusiasm; Roberto had unpleasant experiences at school because of his unfamiliarity with English, and Francisco likely doesn’t speak English either. Roberto’s experience shows that immigrant children are at a disadvantage at school, and that they are even punished for things they can’t control.
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It’s January, and the family has finished working in the cotton fields and has come to the “Tent City” owned by Sheehey Strawberry Farms near Santa Maria. Francisco is to attend first grade starting Monday, and he’s excited but also nervous. He doesn’t know any English, and Roberto’s stories scare him.
Francisco’s family moves around a lot since they are itinerant laborers and follow the harvest. This means that Francisco and his siblings must constantly get used to new places and new accommodations—and now, he has another big life change coming his way as he is starting school.
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On Monday morning, Roberto accompanies Francisco to meet the school principal, Mr. Sims, and helps enroll Francisco in the first grade. Mr. Sims then walks Francisco to his classroom and introduces him to his teacher, Miss Scalapino. Mr. Sims and Miss Scalapino say a lot of things to Francisco, but he doesn’t understand a word. He quietly sits down at the desk that Miss Scalapino leads him to, and he’s happy to see that he has a book, a pencil, and crayons in his desk. Francisco notices a caterpillar in a jar on a shelf right next to his desk, and he thinks that it looks just like the ones he’s seen in the fields.
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When the other kids come into the classroom, some of them giggle when they spot Francisco. This embarrasses him, and he stares at the caterpillar to feel better. All day, Francisco doesn’t understand a word that Miss Scalapino says. He tries to pay close attention anyway, but he ends up with a headache. This happens every day, and finally, Francisco learns to pretend that he’s listening—even when he’s daydreaming about “flying out of the classroom and over the fields.”
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Francisco slowly learns some of his classmates’ names. Curtis is one of the most popular kids, and he’s also pretty big. Since Francisco is the smallest in class and doesn’t know any English, he’s always picked last when the kids form teams. One of the kids Francisco likes best is Arthur, who knows a little Spanish. However, Miss Scalapino overhears Francisco speaking Spanish once and reprimands him. After this, Arthur avoids Francisco whenever Miss Scalapino is around.
At recess, Francisco often stays in the classroom with the caterpillar. He looks through a picture book about caterpillars and butterflies, and although he enjoys the pictures, he is also very curious about what the words say. Francisco looks at the words so intensely and so often that he can recall their exact shape, even though he can’t read them.
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One cold morning, Francisco is shivering in the playground without a coat. Mr. Sims notices and takes Francisco to the office, where Mr. Sims gives him a green coat from a box of used clothes. Francisco is excited about this, and his parents are happy when he shows it to them that evening. However, the next day at school, Curtis spots him wearing the coat and starts fighting him. He yells something at Francisco, but Francisco can’t understand what he is saying. Finally, Miss Scalapino breaks up the fight. Later, Arthur explains to Francisco that Curtis had said that the jacket was his, and that he’d lost it at the beginning of the year.
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Miss Scalapino tells Francisco and Curtis that as a punishment for fighting, they will have to sit on a bench during recess for the rest of the week. Francisco is also forced to give the coat to Curtis. Francisco is so embarrassed by these events that he lays his head down on his desk and pretends to be asleep for the rest of the school day. When the kids go out for recess, Francisco checks on the caterpillar and discovers that it has spun a cocoon around itself. Francisco strokes it gently and thinks that it must be sleeping peacefully.
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When Francisco tells his parents about the fight at school, they are “very upset but relieved that [he] did not disrespect the teacher.” Francisco struggles to go back to school after this incident. However, things slowly get better. With time, he even picks up some English words.
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Toward the end of the school year, Miss Scalapino makes an announcement in class and says Francisco’s name. In one hand, she holds up a drawing of a butterfly that Francisco made, and in the other, a blue ribbon that has the number one printed on it. Francisco understands that his art has won a prize, and he’s so proud that he feels like he’s “bursting out of his skin.”
That afternoon, Francisco notices that the cocoon in the jar next to his desk is cracking open, and he calls his classmates over to look. The children are excited to watch the butterfly emerging. Later, Miss Scalapino takes the jar to the playground. Francisco’s classmates crowd around her and he can barely see what she is doing. However, she calls Francisco up front to open the lid of the jar, since he was the one who spotted the butterfly first. They all watch as the butterfly flies into the air.
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After school, Curtis points to Francisco’s drawing and says something that Francisco doesn’t understand. Arthur translates that Curtis really likes Francisco’s drawing of the butterfly. Francisco says, “It’s yours,” and gives it to Curtis.
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