Home

A major dynamic in the story is Julian’s longing for home, coupled with the realization that he will never return to his home alive. When he dies, he is forced to wander Los Angeles alone as a ghost, trying to understand the complicated racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors that led to his death. Home represented familiarity, and safety for Julian even while he had such a complicated relationship with his family. Julian cannot stop himself from lamenting the loss of home because wandering is lonely and confusing as he has no idea how to find peace in death. He feels powerless and unmoored. He knows that he is lucky to be able to communicate with Yadriel, but he longs to regain the connection he had to the rest of his family and his close-knit culture. He has nobody to look after him, and the emotional...