Breaking Through

“‘What if Panchito goes back with Roberto?’ Mama said.”

When the family is deported to Mexico, it is determined by Papa that Roberto, who has a part-time job as a janitor at Main Street School in Santa Maria, will return to California to work and send money to the family. Although he remains silent, Francisco is devastated upon hearing of this plan. He realizes that he will be hopelessly behind his school upon his return to California if he remains with the family in Mexico. Mama diplomatically suggests that Francisco can help his brother at work and that they can both attend school if they are sent back to Bonetti Ranch together. Papa determines that Roberto is mature enough to take care of his younger brother and gives permission for both boys to return to California. 

“One evening when we got home after work, we discovered that someone had broken in our house and stolen our cash.” 

Every afternoon after school, Francisco assists his brother in cleaning the Main Street School. When the older boy is paid every month, he keeps enough cash to care for himself and the author and sends the remainder to the family in Mexico as they reside with a relative and seek a cure for Papa’s back trouble. Upon this burglary, he was unable to send any money home for the month. The boys had been keeping the cash under their mattress when it was stolen. Subsequently, they hide the money “[…] inside a chipped ceramic bust of Jesus Christ that we had found in the public dump”.

“My classmates called me ‘hotshot’ and teased me because I worked hard.” 

Although Francisco struggles with English, he excels in math. He often is awarded the first seat in the class, as seating is determined by current grade point average in the class. His primary competitor is Marjorie Ito, daughter of the sharecropper who employs the family. Because the author is such an earnest student and works so hard, his classmates make fun of him in a good-natured way. 

“I see your point, Panchito. We’ll meet girls and make new friends.” 

After discovering rock ‘n’ roll music, Francisco encourages his brother to attend the local Vets dances. Enamored of music and dancing, Francisco is unable to understand why many of the boys attending the function are too shy to ask a girl to dance without drinking alcohol to overcome their inhibitions. The brothers start practicing their dance moves every evening, after eating canned ravioli dinners in the absence of their mother. Eventually, both brothers meet American girls at the dance; however, both young women’s families object to their daughters dating Mexican boys. 

“All four doors of the cab flew open like the petals of a flower.” 

The author uses this simile to describe the image of the doors opening on the yellow cab that brings his parents and siblings back to Bonetti Ranch. Although the brothers functioned with great maturity in the absence of their parents, they were bereft of the affection and emotional energy involved with living in a large family. Francisco remembers that, upon exiting the cab, “Papa gave me a kiss on the forehead, the first kiss he had ever given me”.

“I am cured. A curandera took care of me.” 

Upon his arrival back to California, Papa advises his older sons that a Mexican healer had used raw eggs and burning incense to cure his chronic back pain. The woman had diagnosed Papa’s pain to be the result of having been hexed. Francisco expresses some cynicism regarding this story, and this commences a series of differences of opinion between the author and his father. The fact that Papa’s view of his role as head of the family does not allow disagreement with his opinion leads to further conflict, despite Francisco’s largely respectful attitude toward his father. 

“Like children looking for Easter eggs, we searched for strawberries hidden between the leaves.” 

Following his return to California, Papa and his friend, Joe Garcia, a fellow laborer, decide to form a partnership in order to farm their own strawberries. Doing so requires a grueling work schedule on the part of Papa, who works for Ito, the sharecropper, from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and then drives to the acreage in Santa Maria. Roberto and Francisco are recruited to work after school. The blighting of the crop leads to financial and emotional devastation for Papa. The author writes the simile above recalling the golden period prior to the blight, when it appeared that the plan would be successful and that a lucrative strawberry crop would be harvested.

“I washed my hair with Fab detergent and scrubbed my hands extra hard with Ajax to get rid of the strawberry stains.” 

After working all afternoon in the fields, Francisco arrives home and starts to prepare to attend his junior high school graduation. The acidic nature of strawberries results in their leaving dark stains on hair and skin, and the author scrubs with detergent and abrasives in an aluminum tub located in a shed attached to the barracks in which the family resides.

“I kissed my Saint Christopher medal.” 

Although Mama and Papa do not attend Francisco’s junior high school graduation, they realize that it is an important occasion. Papa gives Francisco the Saint Christopher medal that he has worn on a necklace all his life as a gift. When Francisco and Trampita decide to catch goldfish in order to sell them, Francisco kisses the medal for luck as they throw out bait and hope to make a catch.

“He said, ‘Don’t be stupid. Only rich people become teachers.’”

During a conversation with Mama, Francisco explains that Papa has upset him by denigrating his dream of becoming a teacher. This comment on his father’s part is indicative of the downturn in his worldview that occurred after the failure of his sharecropping venture. While Mama remains optimistic and filled with faith in God, Papa becomes cynical and discouraged about the future opportunities that may be available to his children.

“‘We found them in the dump,’ Torito said proudly.” 

Francisco is counting on a good grade in gym class, and he is devastated to find his sneakers missing from his locker, as failure to change for class will result in a lower grade. Torito and Trampita scavenge through the city dump and procure a pair of used, oversized sneakers for Francisco to use at school. The family often uses items found in the dump in lieu of purchasing them, including Trampita’s baby clothes and the plaster bust of Jesus Christ, in which the boys hide their cash while living alone.

“He wore a wide belt for support, and when he could no longer stoop over, he worked on his knees until his back gave out completely.” 

Papa’s back pain becomes more severe as his depression worsens. By the fall of Francisco’s sophomore year in high school, field work becomes scarce. Papa takes the only job available, which is thinning lettuce; however, his pain becomes so severe that he is unable to work at all. Roberto and Francisco assume the bulk of the responsibility for the financial support of the family.

“Then I remembered Papa telling us to avoid owing anybody anything, including favors.” 

Francisco is placed at a disadvantage in his typing class when he finds that the teacher expects the students to practice at home. The Jimenez family does not own a typewriter. When Francisco sees an unused typewriter at the law firm that he cleans after school, one of the partners offers to give it to him. Francisco, recalling Papa’s advice about never owing anything to others, insists upon buying the machine for five dollars.

“My baby brother was stiff and purple.” 

When asked to write an autobiographical piece by his English teacher, Miss Bell, Francisco tells the story of Trampita nearly freezing to death as an infant. Mama and Papa worked a night shift in an apple cannery, and Trampita was left to sleep between his brothers on a mattress in a tent. He rolls out of the tent during the night while his siblings are asleep, and Papa finds the child nearly frozen. Trampita is left with a bulging navel as a result of having cried so hard that night. 

“He reminded of my friend Don Gabriel, the bracero who stood up to Diaz, the labor contractor, who tried to force Don Gabriel to pull a plow like an ox.” 

Miss Bell chooses The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about migrant workers, to assign to Francisco to read. It is at this point that Francisco learns to read for enjoyment. He identifies with the characters in the book and sympathizes with the plight of the Joad family, particularly Tom Joad, who fights for the workers’ rights. 

“My brother stopped dating for a long time.” 

Roberto, Francisco’s older brother, meets a girl named Susan at the Vets dance and falls in love with her. He is devastated when he finds that Susan’s parents object to the relationship because he is Mexican. Susan’s father offers to buy her a car if she stops seeing Roberto. Susan sneaks out to see Roberto by having him pick her up at a friend’s house, but the young man feels that this is unscrupulous and, eventually, the relationship ends

“Yes, give Papa the keys to the DeSoto. You won’t need them.” 

Francisco is embarrassed at the prospect of his high school friends seeing him in the old, battered family DeSoto, so he parks a distance from school and walks there after cleaning the Western Union office in the early mornings prior to class. Roberto sees him doing this one day and wakes up early the next morning to drive his brother to work, help him clean the office, and then drive him to school, thereby saving Francisco the social stigma of being seen in the old car.

“They appeared to be like many of the older students at Santa Maria High School, but none looked like my friends from Bonetti Ranch or friends I made in other labor camps, and that made me feel uncomfortable.” 

Mr. Kinkade, Francisco’s guidance counselor, meets with the author to discuss the possibility of Francisco attending college. In order to better acquaint his student with a campus environment, he arranges to include Francisco on a tour of Cal Poly. Francisco is intrigued by the notion, but he worries about the fact that he might feel socially ostracized in this setting. Conversely, he looks at a textbook left open by a student who has left the room, and realizes that he would be capable of comprehending college-level reading material.

“This afternoon the Salvation Army brought us a huge box full of groceries.”

Ironically, the windfall of groceries that is donated to Mama is the result of a food drive that Francisco suggests his Spanish Club conduct in lieu of a Christmas party. The Spanish Club moderator, Mr. Osterveen, is married to a Mexican woman and resided in Mexico for some time in the past. He is a critical character in Francisco’s life, as it is he who ultimately convinces Papa of the advisability of Francisco attending college. 

“When I found out that Kennedy came from a wealthy family, I knew for sure that Papa was wrong about rich people, but I never said anything to him.” 

Francisco is required to keep up with newspaper articles regarding the Kennedy/Nixon presidential election of 1960, and he decides to support the Democrats. His rising sense of anger at social inequality is fueled when he reads that some voters refrained from supporting Kennedy because he was a Catholic. Papa believes that no one from a wealthy family would ever support the poor, but Francisco is afraid of angering him by telling him about Kennedy’s economic background and promises to help the disadvantaged. 

“‘A what? I am not a pest,’ I said.” 

Francisco’s friend, Paul Takagi, encourages him to run for student-body president, but the author worries about whether he’ll be able to keep up with his schoolwork and his outside jobs in addition to student government responsibilities. Paul advises his friend not to be such a pessimist; Francisco, misunderstanding the word, protests that he is not a pest.

“I was emotionally exhausted. I felt like a bird caught in a storm.” 

Francisco is thrilled when he wins the race for student-body president, but he undergoes an immediate emotional change upon his arrival home from school. Torito rushes out the door, crying hysterically, and relates that Papa has been injured while cutting wood with a power saw. Papa thought that Torito’s hand was going to touch the blade; in his rush to protect the boy, Papa gets his hand caught on the saw and loses a finger. When Francisco advises his father of the election results, the older man has a blank look on his face but says that he is happy for his son. 

“I dropped to my knees, buried my face in my hands, and cried.” 

The family rejoices when Roberto marries Darlene, but the loss of his income from the budget leaves them short of money. Francisco tries to make up the difference by working a number of additional hours. He feels defeated and tired and notices that his reflection in the mirror reminds him of that of his father.