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 is now working at a strawberry farm, and the peak of the strawberry season has already passed. The farm workers—most of them braceros—are not picking as many strawberries as they had picked in June and July. As the end of August approaches, the strawberry crop diminishes further, and the braceros slowly disappear. On the last day of work, Ito, the Japanese strawberry sharecropper, yells in his broken Spanish for the workers to go home. Francisco thinks that he has waited for these words “for twelve hours a day, every day,” all summer. However, he’s saddened by the thought that he won’t hear them again.
Francisco’s family has moved once again, and the season’s change seems to mimic the constant changes that the family experiences. The braceros, too, are temporary workers, and their departure emphasizes the changes that surround them. Francisco has been working on the strawberry farm all summer, waiting for each grueling day to be done—the workers work for 12 hours straight, which must be very hard. Yet, after the season is done and Ito sends the workers home at the end of the last day, Francisco is sad because he his family will have to move again to find work.
Themes
As they drive home, Papá and Roberto are silent. At home, Francisco sees that all their belongings have been packed up, ready for them to go to the next farm where they can find work. He suddenly feels the weight of all the hard work they’ve done over the past few months, and he sits down on a box to get his bearings. That night, Francisco can’t sleep because he’s worried about their move to Fresno; he thinks about how much he hates the constant moving.
Papá wakes everyone up very early the next morning. Francisco’s little siblings—Trampita, Torito, Rubén, and Rorra—are excited. To them, the move is an adventure. The family eats a quick breakfast, and then Papá goes out to start the car and warm up the engine. He’s very proud of the old car that he calls the Carcachita, Papá bought it in a used car lot in Santa Rosa and spent a lot of time looking at many other cars before deciding on this one. He’d found a blue necktie in the backseat, so he decided that the previous owner must have been an important man.
As Francisco grows older, he is becoming more aware of the family’s precarious financial situation, and he craves stability. However, his younger siblings are still unaware of these troubles, and they enjoy the novelty of moving to a new place every few months.
Themes
Francisco and Roberto load their four boxes into the car, and Papá ties their mattress to the roof. Mamá carefully carries her cooking pot, which is full of cooked beans, and Papá helps her to gently place it on the floor behind the front seat. Then, the family piles in, and they’re on their way. Francisco feels a lump in his throat as he turns to look back at their shack one last time.
The family has worked so hard for so long, and they have very little to show for it—everything they own fits into four cardboard boxes. When they came to the United States from Mexico, they had big dreams—but the reality of their lives has turned out to be very different, as they struggle with poverty and insecurity. Yet the scene of the family working together to pack up and leave is filled with warmth, which suggests that they are happy with one another despite their troubles.
Themes
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At sunset, the family reaches Fresno. They come to a labor camp, and Mamá goes to talk to the foreman, since Papá doesn’t know English. The foreman says that he doesn’t need more workers but advises her to try at Sullivan’s farm down the road. Sullivan lives in a big house with a white fence, surrounded by rose bushes. He tells Mamá that he’ll give them work, and that the family can live in an old garage all season. Mamá is very excited about this, even though the garage is dilapidated: earthworms crawl around the dirt floor, and termites have eaten holes into the walls.
While Papá is the main breadwinner and makes big decisions for the family, he does not know any English, which hampers his dealings with the outside world. This detail highlights the fact that many immigrants never quite feel comfortable in their new country because of linguistic and cultural differences. This scene also sets up the contrast between the farmer’s lavish home and the dilapidated quarters he offers Francisco’s family. The true tragedy in this situation is that Mamá is actually excited to live here, since it is better than the tents they usually live in.
Themes
That night, the family works to make the garage more habitable. They sweep away the worms and the dirt, and Papá fills in the holes in the walls. After breakfast the next morning, Papá, Roberto, and Francisco head to the vineyard to pick grapes. By nine o’ clock, it is already 100 degrees, and Francisco is covered in sweat. He takes a big drink of water, though Roberto cautions him against doing this, and Francisco immediately doubles over because he feels sick to his stomach. He stays very still on the ground until he slowly begins to feel better.
Despite the terrible state of their living quarters, the family works together to improve it; it seems they always succeed in working together to find solutions to their hardships. In this way, the family’s love and cooperation help them to survive their difficulties. Meanwhile, in the fields, Francisco struggles with the heat and hard work, since he has less experience than Roberto and Papá. As Francisco grows older and does more work in the fields, he comes to understand how hard the labor is. As a young boy, he dreamed of working in the fields—but now, he understands that he was lucky to avoid it.
Themes
At two o’ clock, they take a break to each lunch, and Francisco still feels a little dizzy. Papá counts the boxes of grapes they’ve picked. Suddenly, Papá shouts a warning when he spots the school bus. Francisco and Roberto run away and hide in the vineyards until the bus drives away—they don’t want to get into trouble for not going to school.
Due to their poverty, Francisco and Roberto must work in the fields to contribute to the family’s income. They can attend school only sporadically, and this academic instability is another change that they must constantly deal with.
Themes
It gets even hotter in the afternoon, and as Francisco continues working, he feels like the day will never end. Finally, they stop once it’s too dark to work anymore. Papá counts the boxes of grapes they picked and sees that they’ve earned $15. The next morning, when Francisco wakes up, he feels like he can’t move—he feels like this for several days, until his body gets used to the work.
The hard work that the family does doesn’t seem to yield them much money. This is the reason they struggle so much: their wages don’t match the amount of work they do. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a solution to this problem, since the farmers will continue to exploit undocumented workers, who don’t have any alternatives for employment.
Themes
Francisco goes back to school in November, when the grape season ends. He’s starting sixth grade for the first time, which he’s excited about; he’s also happy that he doesn’t have to go to work anymore. However, Francisco feels guilty about this, because Roberto won’t go to school until the cotton season ends in February. Francisco tries not to look at Roberto at all that morning, and he’s relieved when Roberto and Papá head off to work at six o’ clock.
As the younger sibling, Francisco still has some advantages over Roberto, who barely gets to attend school at all. Francisco understands the unfairness of this situation, which makes him feel guilty. Clearly, Roberto, too, would prefer to go to school rather than work in the fields, but he doesn’t have this option.
Themes
At eight, Francisco stands by the side of the road and excitedly waits for the school bus. But when he sits alone at the very back of the bus, he feels nervous. At school, Francisco walks to the office, and when a woman there speaks to him in English, he is “startled” because he “had not heard English for months.” He struggles to find the English words to say that he wants to enroll in the sixth grade.
While Francisco has been looking forward to going to school, he feels a little shaky when he gets there. Like all changes, this one will take some getting used to, especially since Francisco has been out of school for a few months. He hasn’t spoken in English for a long time, and his struggle with the language shows how disruptive the family’s constant moving is to Francisco’s life and education.
Themes
The woman from the school office leads Francisco to his classroom. The teacher, Mr. Lema, greets Francisco and introduces him to the class. Francisco is so nervous that he wishes he was with Papá and Roberto in the fields instead. This morning, the class is continuing reading a story they started earlier. Mr. Lema gives Francisco a copy of the English book and asks him to turn to page 125, which makes Francisco feel dizzy. When Mr. Lema asks Francisco if he’d like to read too, Francisco’s eyes begin to water because he is so stressed. Mr. Lema kindly tells him that he can read later.
Francisco’s reaction to school highlights how hard it is for him to adapt to this environment, even though it is a change he has been looking forward to. Previously, in the fields, he felt dizzy when he was working hard in the heat. Now, in the classroom, he feels the same way when he struggles with a difficult task. It seems like Francisco struggles in both places since he has to constantly shift between them, and as a result, doesn’t feel like he belongs in either environment. Since he has been out of school for so long, he is behind on his English and reading and has to struggle to catch up with his classmates.
Themes
At recess, Francisco takes the book to the bathroom and tries to read it. He struggles with many words. When he goes back to the classroom, Mr. Lema smiles at him, which makes him feel better. He asks Mr. Lema if he’ll help him with the difficult words, and Mr. Lema immediately agrees. For the rest of the month, Francisco spends his lunch and recess with Mr. Lema, who tutors him in English. Francisco thinks of him as his “best friend at school.”
Mr. Lema’s kindness makes a huge difference to Francisco. When Francisco is feeling insecure and nervous in school, Mr. Lema’s kind smile makes him feel welcome and invites Francisco to ask for help. Mr. Lema is more than willing to help Francisco with his reading, and he even sacrifices his lunch break every day to do so. Francisco is very grateful for this and grows attached to Mr. Lema.
Themes
One afternoon, Mr. Lema takes Francisco to the music room at school. Francisco tells him that he likes corridos. Mr. Lema offers to teach him to play the trumpet, which is one of the main instruments used in corridos. Francisco is very excited about this, and he can’t wait to go home and tell his family the news. However, when he gets home from school that day, he finds that his family has packed all their belongings in cardboard boxes—they’re ready to move again.
Corridos is a style of ballad-like music that’s popular in Mexico. Mr. Lema’s offer to teach Francisco the trumpet because it is used in corridos shows that he knows and respects this kind of music. Francisco is very happy in school because of Mr. Lema’s help and acceptance, but the family soon has to move on to their next job, and Francisco has to leave. This story highlights how disruptive this constant moving is to Francisco’s social life and academics.
Themes
