40 pages • 1 hour read
Luis Alberto UrreaInto the Beautiful North
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Chuy does not return. After nine hours of being stranded, another bus comes by and takes a few travelers who are willing to stand to Tijuana. Nayeli is ashamed at her own body odour because back in Tres Camarones, she always smelled sweetly, with American soap. When they reach the American border, they are surprised that it looks the same. Tacho remarked, "It just looks like more Mexico" (86).
Once they disembark the bus, the Tres Camaronians discover that their bags have disappeared. Their naïveté appears ever thicker when Vampi gets her period. All of her feminine products are in her missing bag, so she asks Nayeli for something. All Nayeli has is a tampon and Vampi had never used one before. She is frightened.
They are amused by the spectacle of Tijuana, and end up in a restaurant where they have their first beers. The waiter knows exactly why they are there and that they are from the South. He warns them to watch themselves, that the girls will need Coyotes to cross the border, and he advises them to get passports.
Nayeli tries to phone Chavarin (Aunt Irma's contact) but the operator tells her that his phone number has not existed since 1964.
Chapter 11 Summary
The youths wander Tijuana for a little while, but realize that the streets are dangerous, full of thieves and pimps. They settle on a cheap, sleazy hotel room and make fun of the "copulation" sounds coming from a neighbouring room. Vampi and Yolo cry in bed, and Tacho makes a silly comment about their neighbours and they all start laughing.
At about 3:00 in the morning, a man that they met earlier who directed them to the hotel is trying to unlatch the door. While her three friends are still sleeping, Nayeli attacks the man by slamming his arm in the door, twisting his finger back until it snaps and sprays him twice with pepper spray. Tacho eventually joins her as she threatens to kill the man if he tries to hurt them again. He leaves.
Chapter 12 Summary
After a difficult night, the warriors are low-spirited and cranky as they wander through the city. Yolo begins explaining the reason behind the conditions of northern Mexico. She observes that borders are usually separated by space, but not the Mexican-American border. There are major cities that are right at the border and so the substandard, lawless atmosphere of Tijuana is a result of these cities being so close to each other. Nayeli flirts with a border guard from afar, "begging" to cross. He smiles at her but shakes his head.
Eventually, a kindly couple, Dona Araceli and Don Porfirio, run into the Tres Camarones crew. They offer friendly words and state that "over there" is "not for [them]" (110). They also offer to share their home so the warriors have a place to stay for the night. The youths are shocked when the couple bring them to a huge garbage dump that they call home.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
The big city “appeal” of Tijuana is short-lived. The warriors learn quickly that it is a dangerous place and they have to watch themselves. Their naiveté is reflected in Vampi’s fear of using a tampon but this “innocence” is juxtaposed with Yolo’s sophisticated understanding of the troubles at the Mexican border. Despite the alluring Americanized lifestyle present in Tijuana, there is a darkness present as well. This is not the “beautiful north” that they imagined.
Nayeli proves herself an effective leader of the group. She uses her intelligence to fight off the stranger that threatens to enter their room, truly becoming the “warrior” that Aunt Irma labelled her as.
Despite the fearful and violent situation they are in, the group manages to receive some unlikely kindness from a strange couple, who are very poor, but offer food and lodging. The fact that such beautiful people live in such squalor serves to illustrate Urrea’s presentation of illusions being shattered. It begs the question how people living in such terrible conditions could be so happy, friendly and helpful, when so far, the Tres Camaronians have seen nothing but desperation.
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By Luis Alberto Urrea
