Into the Beautiful North

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-18

Chapters 19-21

Chapters 22-24

Chapters 25-27

Chapters 28-30

Chapters 31-33

Chapters 34-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary

This chapter opens with Irma, Nayeli’s mother, Nayeli and her friends heading out for crab day. For Nayeli it is "like going to heaven" (25) She marvels at the beauty of the wildlife. "They had reached the most perfect spot in the world" (26) and Irma notes that Nayeli 's father should have visited this spot before leaving to go North. Nayeli's mother replied, 'You cannot eat beauty" (27).

Nayeli makes an important observation - even the crabs are surviving better than Tres Camarones. Nayeli catches a pregnant female and Yolo feels guilty. The crab is like their sister. They wonder who is pregnant around them, and cannot think of anyone. The book’s title is mentioned by Irma, mockingly stating that all the men from Tres Camarones have gone “into the beautiful north”, like some teenage melodrama. Nayeli notices later that it is true.

Chapter 5 Summary

On a road trip to Mazatlán, Irma stops at a fresh food stand and is faced with a bizarre economics lesson. The beans she wants to buy were grown in Mexico, and she is disgusted by the high price. According to the stand owner, they are from California. They were grown in Mexico, purchased by the United States to be resold back again to Mexicans.

Next, a Guatemalan woman stops at the stand and asks for mercy, as she cannot afford the prices of the food either. She is heading north as well. Irma expresses disgust at South Americans "invading Mexico", stealing their jobs, etc. Irma goes so far to say that Mexico should have borders sealing any influx of people because "Mexico is for Mexicans" (36).

Nayeli expresses her loneliness to Irma while her girlfriends are asleep. She broods over the thought of who will bring her flowers, touch her face, or serenade her. Irma cannot answer her. There are no young men left in Tres Camarones.

Chapter 6 Summary

Irma and Nayeli stop in at Garcia-Garcia's home - the richest man from Tres Camarones and Irma's cousin. She demands that he provide more work opportunities for women, and convinces him to train Nayeli's mother as the theatre projectionist. She boasts of Nayeli's karate skills and he surmises that she is not very feminine. Nayeli replies, "Perhaps...it is time for a new kind of femininity" (44). According to Irma, Garcia must "attend to the needs of the women who now run this municipality" (43). Nayeli remarks that Irma acts like Bette Davis in her interaction with Garcia.

As the mayoral election for Tres Camarones looms, there is a civil battle between the men and women in Tres Camarones, but women rule by sheer number. Irma wins the election (Municipal President) by a landslide. For Tres Camarones, "A new age dawns" (45).

Chapters 4-6 Analysis

Urrea uses the crab metaphor as a representation of the plight of the people in Tres Camarones. When Nayeli wonders about the pregnant women around them, and cannot think of any, Urrea may be suggesting that a community that is not reproducing is dying. This idea of death is also connected to Nayeli’s mother. Irma criticizes her saying, “You’ve been dying for years. Why don’t you get it over with?” (26). However, this is a strong contrast to Irma’s view of the “new feminine”, a woman that is strong and in control. Nayeli’s mother is just a reflection of her community; however, rather than letting death happen, Nayeli’s quest is the clearest representation of the new feminine that Aunt Irma idealizes. A “new age” is dawning, and it begins with Irma winning the election. She is the first female political leader that Tres Camarones has ever had.

And yet, discrimination comes in all forms. Some of Irma’s dialogue smacks heavily of familiar sentiments that Americans have with Mexicans. The border that runs between Mexico and the US is the physical representation of Irma’s attitude about South Americans: to keep “others” out and keep the Mexicans/Americans in. This is the story’s greatest paradox: we are all very much alike in our ethnocentrism.

The movie motif appears when Irma and Nayeli visit Garcia-Garcia. While Irma focuses on the practical matters of the theatre (employing Nayeli’s mother), Nayeli sees the scene (specifically Irma’s behaviour) as though it was a movie and Irma was Bette Davis. This idealized, “Hollywood” understanding of things illustrates Urrea’s major theme in this story: the danger of illusion and generalizations.