Fighting Dehumanization with Characterization

First and foremost, this is hands down my favorite book of the semester. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of

our texts but I literally could not put La Linea down. I was going to wait to write this post until we’d finished

with Zlata but I’m too amped up. I have been building a thematic unit surrounding illegal immigration and

this piece is exactly what that unit plan is missing.

The reason this text is so perfect for the classroom is that Ann Jaramillo’s characterization turns an

unfathomable circumstance into a relatable situation. By framing Miguel as a lost soul (literally and

figuratively) she creates commonality between her adolescent readership and the protagonist. “If I’d ever

belonged in San Jacinto, I didn’t belong now” helps the audience connect with Miquel (Jaramillo 21). This

connection is crucial for my unit. The entire point of the thematic unit is to get students thinking about the

migrant’s perspective which is all too often lost in moralistic debates and political rhetoric. 

I think a large part of our problem and inability to come to a unified cultural consensus on this issue is

that migrants are frequently dehumanized. You can see this reflected in Jamarillo’s characterization of

Moises. In him, she creates a dynamic coyote. He is a man of honor and integrity despite his notoriously

maligned profession. Even though Miguel and co. lack the necessary funds for his services, Moises

agrees to take them across la linea out of loyalty to Don Clemente (Jaramillo 89). 

Admittedly, this argument would be more persuasive if Don Clemente was not a mob boss but Moises

further demonstrates his good nature after being shot in the desert. His final act is to help Miguel, Javi,

and Elana in the only way he can. Despite his injuries, Moises pushes his pack out of the jeep in one last

desperate attempt to give his charges a better chance of survival (Jaramillo 103). In what was possibly

his final act on Earth, Moises performed an entirely selfless act for near total strangers. I’ve no doubt that,

had his efforts been discovered, the rangers would have shot him again. Only this time, he would have

suffered an injury more fatal than a shoulder wound.

Moises’s experience serves two major purposes. First, it underscores the underlying message in the

book - migrants are people, not monsters. Second, it illustrates without pretense or judgement that

American bigotry is costing migrants their lives. Jaramillo does not berate the rangers. Nor does she

have Miguel, Javier, or Elana rage against Moises’s (maybe) murderers. She preserves the militia men

as a faceless entity, I believe, to avoid sounding accusatory. A tone which could create a rift between her

American born audience members and her text. 

Instead she uses the image of Moises, splayed across the back seat of the jeep like a deer, to do the

talking for her (Jaramillo 103). To the rangers, Moises was nothing more than an animal to be slaughtered

and racked. Jaramillo’s depiction demonstrates how deadly the practice of dehumanizing migrants truly is.

It forces those of us who were born here to face what our intolerance is inflicting on innocent, desperate

people. PEOPLE.

Reading this book made me reflect back on something a Professor told me last semester in reference to

social injustices. Stand up for what’s right, but “don’t ever feel guilty.” But, I think, that may be part of the

problem. Not enough of us feel guilty. Not enough of us feel ashamed that this is happening in the “land of

the free.” It is lack of guilt that allows atrocities like this to continue. But I digress…

I could go on about the ways Jaramillo uses characterization to create a compelling story that builds

empathy. From Javi’s devotion to Miguel and Elana’s survival, to the kindness of the people who fed the

children aboard mata gente, Jaramillo’s text works tirelessly to humanize migrants by telling their story.

That is the inherent value of La Linea, and precisely why it deserves a place in every adolescent classroom.

Maybe if we can raise a generation that is receptive to a multitude of perspectives, one day no one will

have to feel guilty.

Works Cited:

Jaramillo, Ann. La Linea. Macmillian, 2008.