46 pages • 1 hour read
Diane Guerrero, Michelle BurfordIn the Country We Love: My Family Divided
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Plight of the Undocumented
The plight of the undocumented is a running theme throughout Guerrero’s book. Her parents’ precarious status funnels them into menial jobs, which they do for low pay. Their poverty forces them to move every time their landlord raises the rent. They live in dilapidated, sometimes violent neighborhoods with poorly performing public schools. These schools are filled with children who are as disadvantaged as Guerrero. Undocumented immigrants live in constant fear of deportation, which leads to mental health issues, in addition to straining relationships. Because they fear the authorities, they tend not to report crimes happening in their midst. They are preyed upon by unscrupulous employers and con artists, like the fake lawyer who makes off with Papi’s life’s savings. Arrest means being handcuffed and sent to a detention center to await trial.
The immigration system, however, does not provide court-appointed counsel to immigrants facing deportation, and many are too poor to afford lawyers. The conditions at some centers are subpar. For example, Papi is sent to a prison that does not provide toothpaste. Deportation breaks up families, leading to grief and anxiety. For Guerrero, it meant growing up without her parents from the age of 14. Life for deportees is equally challenging, with many returning to the poverty and violence they sought to escape in the first place.
Like many successful memoirists, Guerrero presents her family’s painful story with unflinching honesty. She lays bare the shame she felt as the child of undocumented immigrants, her ugly feelings toward her mother, and her problems with depression, cutting, and alcohol. She also shares the insecurities that plagued her personally and professionally. Her story, however, is more than an exercise in self-reflection, it is also a call to action. Guerrero uses her experiences and platform to educate readers, calling on them to speak in favor of reforming the country’s broken immigration system. She gives a voice to vulnerable communities.
Immigration Reform in the US
Guerrero ends her memoir by urging readers to advocate for immigration reform. She explains the system’s shortcomings in a succinct and comprehensible way: Mass deportations harm families (children in particular); they cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars; and they have crippling economic effects in certain sectors, such as agriculture. Guerrero’s experiences as the child of undocumented parents puts a human face on what can otherwise seem like an abstract topic. Guerrero was an innocent girl who fell victim to the country’s antiquated and dysfunctional immigration system. She had to fend for herself at a young age. Only the generosity of her community kept her off the streets. Despite her difficult circumstances, and her problems with depression, alcoholism, and debt, Guerrero rose to fame and fortune. Her vulnerability, alongside her likeability and expertise, make her an ideal immigration advocate.
Guerrero relies on statistics to support her call for reform. She shifts away from the personal to ground the memoir in facts. She makes the long, complex history of US immigration policies accessible to non-specialists, especially the actions of the Obama administration and the subsequent dismantling of these actions under President Trump. The statistics she cites are shocking and therefore impactful, as are the financial benefits to providing the undocumented with a path to citizenship. Guerrero highlights the humanitarian and financial benefits of reform in hopes of recruiting advocates of different political leanings.
Courage, Tenacity, and Hope for a Better Future
The interrelated themes of courage, tenacity, and hope run through Guerrero’s memoir. Immigration itself is an act of courage, as well as hope. Like Mami and Papi, many immigrants to the US leave their birth countries without knowing English, and with no firm understanding of American culture. Guerrero’s parents boldly make the trip to New Jersey with their infant son. Mami even returns to the US after two deportations. They persevere through many hardships, including low-paying jobs, discrimination, marital problems, and losing their life’s savings to a conman. Driving them is their unquenchable hope for a better life. Even after their deportation, they continue to strive to improve their plight. They are especially tenacious when it comes to Guerrero, consistently reaching out to her even when she pushes them away.
Guerrero inherits her parents’ courage and tenacity. She bravely chooses to remain in the US without them at the age of 14. She sets her grief aside for years and completes high school on a high note. With the help of her therapist, she successfully battles depression as a young adult. Her courage is also on display when she changes career paths. She shows strength of will during the long road to professional success. A seemingly endless string of rejections, bit parts in student productions, and unsatisfying work as an extra characterize this phase of her career, yet the love of acting and hope of success keep her strong. Guerrero’s greatest act of courage, however, is her decision to go public with her story, first with an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, and then with her memoir. By stepping into the light, Guerrero overcame a lifetime of shame, faced possible career repercussions, and opened herself to public judgement. She bravely saw the memoir to completion with thoughts of healing, helping, and providing hope to vulnerable communities.
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