The Crossing

“This day he would cross to the north to the United States and find work, become a man, make money, and wear a leather belt with a large buckle and a straw hat with a feathered headband.”

Manny equates crossing the border with success. In his mind, making it to the United States means a guaranteed job and the ability to afford these particular articles of clothing. Paulsen shows how Manny pictures successful Americans and the hope and success that America symbolizes to him.

“The man in the mirror showed only one scar, the one from the tiny bit of shrapnel in Vietnam that had cut white-sizzling across his left temple and missed ending him by less than a quarter inch. The reflection showed none of the true scars–the scars that covered other parts of his body and all of his mind and thoughts, the scars that were part of the drinking.”

Paulsen creates a parallel between the single scar the sergeant has on his skin and the many scars he has emotionally from being in battle. He subtly suggests that Robert suffers from PTSD and uses alcohol to numb its effects as much as possible. Paulsen’s descriptions of Robert provide the reader a general idea of the mental health issues from which he suffers, but Paulsen leaves many details vague, leaving it up to the reader to fill in the gaps wherever possible throughout the novel.

“Above all he was a sergeant, but he could not stand that–could not stand his friends to come in the night.”

Paulsen often repeats the phrase, “above all he was a sergeant” to show how the military is an integral aspect of Robert’s identity. This quote also demonstrates that Robert drinks to avoid hallucinations of his friends, presumably those who died in battle. Paulsen suggests that Robert feels guilty to be alive while his friends are dead, and alcohol is his primary means of coping.

“So now the same tourists who used to watch the children risk drowning pay to see them fight over change in the dry riverbed.”

As Paulsen explains Manny’s begging tactics, he highlights the way American tourists often exacerbate problems and dangers for children, and perhaps even give money to the children for selfish entertainment. The riverbed is now dry, so children no longer need to swim to grab for money thrown off the bridge by tourists, but children still fight in the dirt for the coins. Paulsen shows the reader the perspective that tourists who give money may not always be helpful, especially for children like Manny who are beaten when bigger boys see them with money.

“They had learned it on the streets, had to learn it because it did no good to beg from other Mexicans–only Americans had money. Only Americans had enough extra money to throw it off a bridge.”

This quote exemplifies Paulsen’s motif of American wealth and excess. In comparison with the people of Juárez, who barely manage on small wages, Americans are wealthy. In this way, Paulsen shows that many of the things Americans may take for granted—like having a few extra dollars in one’s pocket—could be viewed by others as incredible wealth.

“That was not the way of it under the bridge or anywhere else on the streets in Juárez. There was no help. Not for any was there help. They had a saying that even the priest would not help—he did not have time.”

In providing the reader with a portrait of life in Juárez, Paulsen shows that conditions are so rough that the city is overloaded with people who need assistance. No one is in a position to devote time and money to community outreach. Manny knows this, and he had to become self-sufficient and tough to have a chance at survival.

“It was a very complicated process, Robert’s use and abuse of alcohol, very devious and complicated, and he suspected strongly that it meant he was not a true macho man, and that made him a little sad but not too much. Most of the true macho men he knew of had known were dead. Just as all the heroes, the true heroes, were dead.”

Mentions of heroes pepper the novel from both Manny and Robert’s points of view. Robert’s musings on heroes serve as a foreshadowing of the novel’s ending. Robert courageously fights to protect Manny and because of this, dies a hero. Robert’s thoughts here suggest that true heroes are defined through sacrifice, rather than machismo.

“Inside it was Robert moving through the people, but outside it was the sergeant in the mirror dragging a Mexican boy, a straight up and down sergeant who had seen and been and done, and there were not many who would want to stop him just to ask about the boy he was dragging.”

Paulsen’s description furthers Roberts’s character development as a man with two distinct personas that he alternates between, seemingly unknowingly. It also solidifies Locke’s sergeant-like demeanor and military identity. Paulsen repeatedly uses the phrase “man in the mirror,” or in this case, “sergeant in the mirror” to describe Locke’s rigid sergeant persona.

The policeman sighed. All lies. It was the only absolute that he knew. All people lied about all things all the time. After a time you did not look for the truth any longer but simply tried to manage the lies and keep things moving correctly.”

The policeman’s reaction to Robert’s lie highlights the way lies are ingrained into life and survival in Juárez. Even though the officer recognizes the lie, he does not waste energy contesting it; it’s a convenient lie, so he lets it go. Paulsen develops the theme of lies and truth in various parts of the novel, both from Robert and Manny’s perspectives, and highlights the way desperation feeds deception.

“No cap. No, he thought, correct that–in the service it was said that a man without a cap did not have cover. The boy had no cover. Strange way to put it, he thought, and wondered why so many things in the army were strange and seemed to be without meaning. A cap was a cover. Shoes were not shoes but low-quarters. Call everything what it wasn’t and change what it was…To kill was to interdict. Eliminate positions. Neutralize.”

Paulsen’s diction in this passage shows Locke’s perspective as a military man who employs military jargon. Locke notices the strangeness of the army words and is bothered by them. The shortness of the diction surrounding death makes it stand out from the rest of the passage and shows how the vocabulary of killing teaches soldiers to take an emotionally detached approach.

“[T]he boy started to eat. Not like a boy, the eating, but something else Robert had seen. Where was that? Someplace strange he had seen something eat that way–oh yes, it was the monkey. In Saigon. No, wait, not there but in the village in the mountains in the Philippines, up in the Bagio mountains.”

Just as with many of his flashbacks, Locke struggles to remember the precise moment and location at first. The comparison he makes between Manny and the monkey serves as an important symbol in the novel.

“The sergeant’s chest had many medals on it, and Manny thought he must be a very brave man. Perhaps nearly as brave as Pancho Villa.”

Manny has never experienced a positive male influence in his life, so he finds a personal hero in the Mexican war hero Pancho Villa. This need for a hero extends to his relationship with the sergeant. Seeing the medals on the sergeant’s chest impresses Manny and makes him view Robert as a brave man.

“But this sergeant was different from any of the others he had seen, different with his hard and soft sides and his evenness. It was as if he was drunk and not drunk at the same time.”

The sergeant stands out from the other drunk soldiers Manny has seen. Although he is inebriated, he is not out of control. Robert drinks methodically to the point where he feels numb and does not think of his friends any longer. His ability to stay somewhat in control adds to his characterization as a strong and by-the-book military sergeant. It suggests that his controlled demeanor is also a part of his coping mechanisms.

“It was interesting to him that they boy was admitting to a lie, which was another way of lying, and he thought to learn from it.”

This quote relates to Paulsen’s theme of lies and truth. It shows that Manny replaces one lie with another because lying is a lifestyle to him. Additionally, it demonstrates that the sergeant recognizes Manny’s lies, mainly because he habitually lies as well. That Robert realizes he may have something to learn from Manny foreshadows the transformative effect this relationship will have on him

“It was expected of Americans that they take things for themselves. All things. Only rarely were they expected to give them back. Americans took and Americans paid; that was the way of it.”

Manny tears down the bullfight poster for Robert to keep because of his mentality that Americans can have whatever they want. Paulsen shows that residents of Juárez view Americans as privileged and powerful.

“A wait with everything ready. Fight wait. Death wait.”

Paulsen’s use of short, simple, repetitive diction to describe the bullfight captures the tension in the audience and, specifically, within Robert. Use of short words and phrases and repetition is a hallmark of Paulsen’s writing style that can be seen in several of his young adult novels.

“‘For nothing,’ he said again. And now Manny looked up at him, realizing the change, and at first he could not understand who the sergeant was talking to, could not decide until he saw the sergeant’s eyes, going out to the bull, and knew that he was speaking only to the bull. His voice was soft, almost gentle, explaining a thing he knew well. ‘All of this is to mean something and it’s for nothing. Only a game.’”

The bullfight marks a significant turning point in Robert’s characterization. He is clearly upset by the needless and bloody killing of the bull. Paulsen reveals the kind and gentle side of the sergeant, while also showing the emotional trauma that he suffered due to his time in battle.

“[When] he had gone back to the barracks he had not been able to stop thinking about the bull for nearly a week. And the bull had mixed with the other friends, and he had fought to keep him away…”

Paulsen creates a connection between the death of the bull and the death of Robert’s friends. Robert sees both as innocent victims, and the image of the bull brings up the emotions he has tried so fervently to bury. Even though thinking of his friends is difficult, the memories help to restore the caring nature Robert once had, evidenced when he agrees to help Manny in the following chapter.

“[For] half a breath Manny did not think of money. He thought instead of the softness and thought that it was the same softness the tall one had in his eyes when he spoke down to the bull as they hacked him to death.”

Manny is so affected by the emotion in Robert’s eyes that he stops thinking of money (and survival) for a moment. He notices that Robert looks the same as he did during the bullfight. These details suggests that both man and boy are affected on an emotional level; Manny experiences kindness to a point where his need for self-preservation is alleviated, and Robert allows himself to feel compassion for a person in need.

“What if he told the sergeant all of the truth about what he wanted to do and asked the sergeant for help, and how would that be? He had never told anyone the truth before. How would that be?”

For the first time ever, Manny considers telling the truth. Manny has been forced to use deception as a means of survival throughout his life. Telling the truth is a luxury that he has never experienced. Paulsen reminds readers of the powerful nature of truth and shows the freedom that it brings.

“When even to think the truth was dangerous, was to show weakness in the streets or in a war—as Robert knew—the boy was telling the truth.”

The enormity of Manny’s honesty is not lost on Robert. He too knows that the truth can make one vulnerable. Paulsen flips this mentality on its head; when Manny tells the truth, it leads to his freedom, and when Robert allows his emotions to affect him, it helps him heal.

“There it is, Robert thought. There it all is just as they always asked in the jungle places with the spit in their voices when there was nothing I could do for them, when they leaned against the earth and died and asked, it was the same way—will you help me?”

Manny’s request for help reminds Robert of his battle experiences. He feels guilty that he could not help so many who were dying and asking for his help. Paulsen shows the trauma and memories that Robert wrestles with through this battlefield flashback.

“And to his complete amazement he meant it, meant that he would help when he had long ago decided he could help no other person in the world just as he could no longer help himself except by drinking to keep the friends away.”

This quote shows that Robert has truly changed; he used to be closed off emotionally, but now feels a sincere desire to help Manny. Chance meetings with Manny have allowed Robert to experience some measure of healing in his mind and spirit. Instead of always walking around as the sergeant, he is gradually returning to Robert.