Barrio Boy

The first migration that Ernesto’s family makes is before he is born, when his mother and uncles move to Jalco. Part 2 opens with Ernesto’s first real journey, from Jalco to Tepic. He leaves behind the world he knows for an uncertain future. The routine that defines Ernesto’s life in Jalco is disrupted as they prepare to move. The changes are slight, but Ernesto notices them. For example, his mother stops singing while she sews, and the adults in his life spend more time talking than they used to. These observations foreshadow the changes that mark the rest of the book.

When they arrive in Tepic, the family doesn’t have social or family networks that can help them, and they struggle to adapt to the new city. Galarza explains that the family’s first priority was keeping every safe and the second concern was finding work. For instance, José and Gustavo search for regular work so they can earn money, while Doña Henriqueta looks for a safe place to save the money that they earn. In the village, they had their own home, and it was very safe. In Tepic, they need to find new strategies. Ultimately, they ask a distant cousin who has a more private living situation to store the money for them until they are ready to leave. In Jalco, Ernesto had a lot of freedom, but now he spends his time with his mother, and he can’t wander around by himself anymore. The military is a prominent presence, and while the city is peaceful, the family is aware that the revolution is coming. Halfway through the chapter, Ernesto’s family makes a second migration.

The migrations undertaken by the family follow the same pattern. The men leave first to make arrangements, and Ernesto and his mother follow. The motivations for leaving Jalco, Tepic, Acaponeta, Urias, and Mazatlán are the same as socio-economic and political pressures impact their lives. There is anxiety about the safety of the family as the revolution starts to impact day-to-day life. Intimidation from the rurales drives many other campesinos—people from the countryside—to the city. More people are looking for work, which increases financial pressure on the family. For example, they are not in Acaponeta long before Gustavo sends for them to travel to Urias. The violence of the revolution causes considerable economic insecurity, and his uncles struggle to find regular work. With jobs scarce and tensions rising, the offer of steady work in the north is a strong reason to keep moving.

In Part 1, Ernesto’s life is limited to the small village. In Part 2, his world rapidly expands. Some of these changes reflect technological shifts in society. In Acaponeta he sees the railroad for the first time. The locomotive symbolizes industrial modernity, and Ernesto is fascinated by its speed and “terrifying noises.” In Mazatlán, there is electric lighting that illuminates the plaza and the street. At moments, modernity is jarring. Galarza relays an anecdote of watching a movie that included a scene with water. Partway through the screening of the movie, the waves break on the screen, and the audience believes that the water is inside the theater. The crowd panics and leaves the building despite someone telling them that the waves are just on the screen. The exposure to other lifestyles is another change that Ernesto experiences. In Jalco, everyone lives a subsistence lifestyle, and Tepic is Ernesto’s first exposure to wealth. He is fascinated by how rich people live, and Galarza describes their homes, the gates, the servants, and the carriages in detail. Ernesto begins to understand class differences. For example, some boys go to school, while other boys work as shoeshines, selling candy, or doing odd jobs. Ernesto doesn’t go to school, but he is educated at home by his mother. In Mazatlán, his cousin, Doña Florencia, is wealthy, and that give his family some status in the neighborhood. Over time he becomes more aware of the differences between the rich and the poor.

Throughout Part 2, Ernesto’s life is frequently upended by the revolution. The military remains an important presence in Ernesto’s childhood. As the story is told from Ernesto’s perspective, the details about the revolution are unclear. It’s alluded to regularly, and its inevitability is stated, but as Ernesto is young, he doesn’t fully grasp the specifics. As a result, the reader isn’t given clear information about the motivations or factions and whether his family supports them. Instead, the narrative centers on what Ernesto notices. For example, the railway station—which he is fascinated by because of the trains—is the center of the revolution, as trains carrying soldiers move through the town. Some of the soldiers wear peasant clothing and travel with their wives, who cook for them. Based on what he has heard, Ernesto concludes that the soldiers are “brave people,” and he wants to be courageous like them. Soldiers are also present in Urias, and the gossip in town centers on the revolution. One day, Ernesto and José hear gunfire as the revolution comes even closer. When Ernesto attends school in Mazatlán, military themes are prominent in instruction and in the games the students play with one another. By the end of the chapter, he has decided he is “100 percent maderista, though I had no idea why Señor Madero was against reelection or what he meant by public liberties” (230). Because Ernesto is the narrator, the reader also doesn’t learn what this means.