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 and his family live in Tent City, which isn’t a city at all—it is, in fact, the name of a labor camp owned by Sheehey Strawberry Farms. Tent City doesn’t even have an address, though it’s just outside the city of Santa Maria. The strawberry farm is run by Japanese sharecroppers and harvested by the laborers who live in Tent City. Most of Tent City’s residents have crossed the border from Mexico illegally, just like Francisco’s family. All of its residents are Mexican.
When Francisco’s family lived in Mexico, they dreamed that they would have a better life in America. However, the reality is that their living conditions as itinerant farm workers in California are often worse than the conditions in Mexico. When they work at the strawberry farm, they live in a tent in a labor camp filled with other Mexican immigrants. And while this labor force is very important to the farmers, they treat the laborers poorly and pay them very little. The farmers take advantage of the fact that immigrants like Francisco’s family are desperate for work and afraid of deportation, since most of them are undocumented.
Themes
Mamá is expecting a baby, so she doesn’t join Papá as he works in the strawberry fields. Instead, to make money, she cooks breakfast and lunch for 20 farm workers. On weekends and during summer vacation, Roberto and Francisco help her with the cooking and washing up.
Even though Francisco’s family goes through some hard times, they survive because of their love for one another. They are united against their troubles and help one another without hesitation—even Francisco, who is only a first grader, willingly pitches in.
Themes
To prepare for the baby, Mamá asks Papá to pile dirt around the bottom of the tent, so that snakes can’t enter. Roberto and Francisco go to the city dump every day to look for discarded lumber that Papá can use to build a floor for the tent before the baby is born. They have to sneak into the dump after the caretaker leaves, and one day, they almost get caught. Roberto and Francisco are nervous after this, but they return anyway, and they even find a wooden box to use as a crib for the baby.
The details of the family’s living quarters—the dirt floor of the tent, the danger of snakes entering their home, an old wooden box for a crib—highlight the extreme poverty that the family is suffering through. Yet the entire family finds solutions to these problems together as they prepare their home for the new baby, which shows their strength as a family.
Themes
When the baby, Torito, is born, Francisco and his siblings are excited to meet him—especially since they’ve worked hard to prepare for him. Torito is a cheerful baby, and they all love him. Meanwhile, Miss Scalapino tells Francisco that he has to repeat first grade since he doesn’t know English, and Francisco is upset by this news. Still, playing with Torito helps him forget his troubles for a while.
Despite their limited resources, the family is delighted to share their affections and few possessions with a new family member, which highlights how close-knit and loving they are. When Francisco gets bad news from school, he takes refuge in Torito’s company, which shows how his strong relationship with his family helps him stay resilient to face the challenges that come his way.
Themes
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When Torito is two months old, he falls ill: he gets a fever and an upset stomach. Francisco washes his soiled diapers, and Mamá bathes Torito in cool water to try to bring his fever down. In the evenings, the family prays to the Virgin of Guadalupe for Torito’s health, but he seems to be getting worse. One night, as the family is praying, Torito’s body stiffens, and he stops breathing. Mamá picks him up and begins praying fervently for his life; to everyone’s relief, he slowly starts breathing again.
The family is united as they do their best to help Torito when he is sick, with even little Francisco chipping in to wash the baby’s soiled diapers. The family also prays together for Torito’s recovery, and their prayers seem to work a miracle, as they think that this is what helps bring Torito back from the brink of death.
Themes
The next day, Mamá is exhausted and worried, and Roberto and Francisco help her cook for the farm workers while she also watches Torito. That night, there’s blood in Torito’s diaper, and Papá says that they’ll take him to the hospital if he doesn’t get better soon. Mamá points out that they don’t have the money for this, but Papá says that they can borrow the money.
When Mamá is preoccupied with caring for Torito, Roberto and Francisco step in to help her with her chores, once again showing that even the young members of the family understand that they are united in the face of troubles. However, Mamá and Papá end up with the bulk of the anxiety, since they grasp the seriousness of Torito’s illness. Mamá and Papá know that he needs better medical care that they cannot provide him with, since they do not have the money for it.
Themes
Later that night, Torito begins moaning and then suddenly goes quiet. He stops breathing, and his eyes roll back into his head. Papá and Mamá rush him to the hospital. They return later without the baby, and Francisco immediately asks them if Torito is dead. Papá replies that Torito is alive, and Mamá angrily says that she’s sure that he will make a full recovery. Francisco finds it hard to sleep that night, and he cannot understand why Mamá sounded angry. He can hear her crying in her bed, while Papá smokes through the night.
Francisco does not understand that his forthright question about whether Torito is dead would be abrasive and hurtful to Mamá. She is terrified that Torito might die and is upset to hear these words spoken aloud, which is why she responds angrily to Francisco. Since Mamá is rarely angry, Francisco doesn’t understand what he did to upset her. As a child, his awareness of other people’s feelings is limited, since he is focused on his own emotions.
Themes
The following morning, after Papá and Mamá leave in the car, Francisco and Roberto pray for Torito. When Mamá returns, she tells them that Torito has a rare disease that might be infectious, which is why his siblings can’t go see him. She says he’ll probably be home soon, but Francisco suspects that she isn’t telling them the whole truth.
Since Francisco and Roberto can no longer do anything to help Torito, they pray for his health. Mamá seems to be shielding Francisco and Roberto from the severity of Torito’s illness—and this, too, is an act of love, since she wants to spare her children the very pain and worry that she is experiencing.
Themes
When Papá comes back from working in the fields, he looks very worried, but no one speaks about Torito. After dinner, Papá and Mamá immediately go to the hospital. When they return, they still don’t have Torito with them, which disappoints Roberto and Francisco. They tell the children that they have made a promise to Santo Niño de Atocha that they’ll pray to him every day for a year if Torito gets well. Papá pins a worn-looking card of little Jesus of Atocha on the tent’s wall. On the card, the baby Jesus wears a blue cloak, a brown cape, and leather sandals.
It seems like Mamá and Papá are shielding their other children from the severity of Torito’s illness. As adults, they must bear the full weight of it. They promise Santo Niño de Atocha (an image of Jesus Christ as a child) that they will pray to him for a whole year if Torito is cured. This is a promise that will take dedication and devotion, and it shows their strength as a family as they come together to fulfill it.
Themes
That night, Francisco dreams of the baby Jesus from the card. In his dream, Jesus comes to him carrying a basket. Lots of white butterflies fly out of the basket and carry Francisco to a green field. There, he finds Torito lying in the grass, dressed in the same outfit as the baby Jesus. The next day, he tells Mamá about this dream, and she decides to make the same outfit for Torito. She cuts up one of her dresses to make the blue cloak and works all afternoon sewing it. She takes it to the hospital that evening.
Francisco is so affected by his brother’s illness that he even dreams of it. Since butterflies are a symbol of positive transformation, Francisco’s dream seems to imply that Torito will recover. And because the family prays together to Jesus of Atocha, who then appears in Francisco’s dream to indicate that Torito will be well, it seems like the family’s prayers will work.
Themes
Later that night, Francisco’s parents return from the hospital with Torito. He looks skinny and tired, and he’s wrapped in the blue cloak. Mamá says that Torito is still sick, and that they should continue praying for him. The family keeps their promise and prays to Santo Niño de Atocha for a full year. Mamá keeps Torito dressed in the blue cloak the whole time, except for when she washes it.
Francisco’s dream seems to be a positive sign, and indeed, Torito comes home soon after. The family keeps their promise to pray together to Santo Niño de Atocha for a full year, which shows the extent of their religious devotion and also their determination to do all they can to help Torito recover.
Themes
One year later, Torito is completely healthy, and Mamá finally takes the cloak off. She confesses to Francisco that the doctor in the hospital had said that Torito would die because she and Papá had waited too long to take him there. The doctor had said it would “take a miracle for him to live.” Mamá says that she didn’t want to believe him, but that he turned out to be right—it did take a miracle.
It turns out that the doctor at the hospital hadn’t expected Torito to survive. He seems to have blamed Mamá and Papá for bringing Torito to the hospital too late, which must have been hard for them to hear, since the only reason they avoided taking him in for so long was because they didn’t have the money for it. This also explains why Mamá had been angry when Francisco had asked her if Torito had died when she returned from the hospital—the doctor had just told her that Torito would most likely not survive, and Mamá must have been devastated to hear this. However, it seems like the family’s love and devotion pulls Torito back from the brink of death.
Themes
