Narratives Crossing the Border: Perspectives on the Migrant Experience in S. Nazario’s 'Enrique’s Journey', F. Cantú’s 'The Line Becomes a River' and T.C. Boyle’s 'The Tortilla Curtain'.

The Mexico-United States border has always had a prominent role in shaping the realities of both countries since its creation, and as of late, the construction of its fencing has electrified the public discourse once again, raising questions about its effectiveness and its cultural significance. This dissertation offers a close reading of Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother (2006), Francisco Cantú’s The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border (2018), and Thomas Coraghessan Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain (1995), to analyze and compare how the authors describe the migrant experience and the realities of the borderlands. In the first chapter, this dissertation focuses on what happens before reaching the border and what makes people migrate from Southern and Central America to the United States, as described by Nazario. In the second chapter, this dissertation focuses on what happens along the border to migrants and Border Patrol officers, as told by Cantú in his memoir. In the third chapter, the analysis investigates Boyle’s exploration of what could happen after crossing the border. By framing the historical context around the theme of each book, this dissertation aims at bringing lived experiences and untold stories into the equation, to demonstrate how the authors contribute to rewriting history “from below”. Caleb Bailey’s “coyote cartography” approach allows for a comparison that defies the concept of border in its ideological significance, in order to reveal the realities of the borderlands. Although the literary genres of each book are different, the comparison reveals a shared symbolism and common imagery, which centers around the natural landscape and the environment to reflect the characters’ perception of the world and the relationships among people inhabiting the borderlands; spectral figures to exemplify the violence of the migration experience and our contemporary capitalistic society; wolves and coyotes to embody both the migrant “other”, as well as the violence and darkness our society must accept and address. The present dissertation compares the authors’ unique perspectives on the matter to help illuminate the migrant experience, and reveal how the border can scar both the land and the people.