Masculinity

The concept of masculinity and its relationship with the Mexican-American and Mexican communities forms a cornerstone of the novel. Mike struggles to unpack his feelings of inadequacy and shame for being emotional as a result of his father’s abandonment as a child and his inklings that he might be gay.

Mike begins the narration with a flashback to the disappointment he felt when his father tricked him and brought him to the pier after promising that they were going to Disneyland. He does this in order to establish a parallel between the disappointed and disillusioned little boy he was and the cycle that has continued throughout his young adult life. He remembers that he did not “let my old man see me crying. I wasn’t gonna give him the pleasure” (13). Mike is expected to act like a man and avoid overly emotional displays, bearing...