Lupita Manana

Whenever there is a great natural disaster—such as a volcano, earthquake, or persistent drought—and whenever there is armed conflict between nations, large numbers of people lose their homes and livelihoods and must travel to distant countries to start new lives. These people are called refugees. When disaster claimed the life of Lupita’s father, to keep her family’s home, she and her brother likewise were required to travel a great distance and start new lives. Lupita and Salvador are called immigrants. Is there any real difference between a migrant and a refugee? We think of refugees as groups of people fleeing from a communal disaster. Can a personal disaster turn someone into a refugee? How so, or why not?

By the end of the novel, readers have been exposed to the rather elaborate American social ladder on which Lupita and Salvador occupy the lowest rung. At the top are the gringos, US citizens, all of whom the Torres children perceive as being rich. Below gringos are the pochos. Below them are naturalized former Mexicans, like Consuelo. Below these authorized immigrants are unauthorized immigrants, and among the unauthorized, farm workers stand below dishwashers and chambermaids. A social ladder, or as it might be called in other settings, “a pecking order,” seems to be present in virtually every communal gathering from the chickens in the barnyard to the celebrities (A-list celebs are careful not to consort with C-list celebs) to high school students. Is a pecking order an innate part of every society? Is it possible for people to form a civilization in which no one is automatically higher or lower than someone else?

Clearly, it is against the law for anyone to enter the US without proper permission. Lupita and Salvador are breaking the law, even though they are on a rescue mission to save their mother’s house. Lupita continually prays that she will be able to reach her aunt’s house and find work to support her indigent family in Mexico. She and Salvador are trying to do something worthy, beneficial, and necessary, though what they are doing is illegal. Is it possible that laws can be harmful and detrimental? Can a person’s good intentions and family needs outweigh the law?

There are many examples of individuals in the story who offer their help to Lupita or Salvador but always demand something in return. Is this a fact of human nature regardless of one’s financial circumstances and culture, or is this tendency exacerbated by the society in which these people live? Is this same phenomenon—"I’ll help you but only if you do something for me”—present in modern American society?

Many readers have expressed negative feelings toward Salvador’s seeming desertion of Lupita when he leaves the fields and Consuela’s house to wash dishes and live with Lucky. His actions result in a schism between Salvador and Lupita, leaving Lupita feeling betrayed. Over time, Salvador’s financial support of his family dwindles, and he withdraws almost completely from his sister’s life. What caused this change in Salvador? Was it inevitable? Was it a bad decision on his part to leave Consuela, Lupita, and his work in the fields to make more money working as a dishwasher? What were Lupita’s concerns about Salvador’s move away from Consuela’s house? Was she simply more concerned about herself than her brother?

The Consuela who challenges Salvador to take Lupita to the dance so she can meet new friends is a different person from the Consuela who first greets her sister’s two older children. What brought about this change in Consuela? Why is she so insistent that Lupita have a chance to go to the dance? Is there other evidence of change in Consuela? What is the significance of Consuela emerging as a more important character as the story proceeds while her husband becomes less and less present in the story?

Beatty uses several descriptions and names that were in accepted use in the 1980s but have fallen out of polite discourse. Though these terms are no longer acceptable, those undocumented workers who were called by this name are still present, treated poorly, and unwelcome. The same dynamic holds for different racial groups and workers in various lower-class industries. What difference does it make to refer to a group of people by a more respectful name if the group itself is still generally demeaned? If a marginalized group calls itself by a more respected name, will the group’s position in society eventually be more respected?

In 1986, five years after the publication of Lupita Mañana, the US federal government approved amnesty for any unauthorized immigrants who had been living in the United States since 1982. Why didn’t that reform end the ongoing controversy about migrant workers in the US? What would it take to end the lengthy controversy over unauthorized immigration? How difficult should it be for citizens of other nations to relocate to the US or to seek employment here?