Boy of the Border by Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes (review)

Set in 1915 in the “troubled land” of Revolutionary-era Mexico (18), Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps’s Boy of the Border is less historical fiction than a chronological coming-of-age narrative. In this way, the text, written between 1939 and 1941, merits comparison with Bontemps’s children’s books Lonesome Boy (1955) and Bubber Goes to Heaven (published posthumously in 1998). Similar to these Harlem Renaissance writers’ earlier collaboration in the same genre, Popo and Fifina: Children of Haiti (1932), this adventure focuses again on the formative experiences of a non-American child, twelve-year-old Miguel Del Monte. Like his symbolic surname (which translates as “of the mount”), the child begins the ascent toward manhood through a series of eye-opening travels with his uncle and a team of amiable herdsmen. They endeavor to drive hundreds of wild broncos to Los Angeles from their home in Sonora, Northern Mexico, via Arizona. Like many a rugged story of seeking fortune on the American frontier, Uncle Mario is attracted to the prospect of greater profits north of the border; however, this is no stereotypical “American Dream” scenario of seeking a better life elsewhere. The notion of home is neither complicated nor contested in this episodic tale: home is unequivocally south of the Rio Grande.

For most contemporary readers, the US-Mexico border’s metonymic relationship to such issues as legitimate citizenship, illegal versus legal immigration, and national belonging are unavoidable. After the herd has crossed into Arizona without any discernible change in scenery, Uncle Mario makes the ironical pronouncement, “Along the border here I suppose both sides do look pretty much alike” (39). Miguel has relatives already residing in California, and while the group enjoys their stay in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, they take their leave of the bustling city in order to make a successful Christmas homecoming. The strength of the Mexican family unit remains among the central themes of this unified, warm-spirited work. If anything, by the end of the story, the family grows both internally and externally, with Miguel’s older brother Antonio returning from the metropolis (Mexico City) where the young man is studying art. Added to the family is Tony, a colt born north of the border and named in honor of this migratory (human) brother. This absorption of newer and older members back into the Del Monte household suggests that what used to be known as the “family of man” also includes the animals that render invaluable service and remain the source of material and emotional sustenance across generations.

Miguel, the twelve-year-old protagonist, is an undeniably good boy. He is even-tempered and filial, earnestly seeking to make a name for himself in line with the other strong males in his family. He is appreciative of simple pleasures like the beauty of his female cousin and the thrill of having a pet. As the narrator explains, “There were always brave deeds waiting to be done by boys who were not afraid” (15). His flaws are meager and forgivable, such as embellishing a story to impress a new friend or fist-fighting a bully. Child readers will find Miguel to be a likeable although not particularly complex role model. The Mexican characters are all generally positive, especially the taciturn “mountain men” Old Juan and Pancho who accompany the Del Montes on the journey (15). Alongside them are young herdsman Colima, a dashing, brotherly figure; the generous Aunt Chona of Los Angeles; and Miguel’s spirited dancer-cousins Raquel and Carlos, who remind us that life is about enjoyment and passion as well as financial stability and commitment to hard work.

The women in the story are categorically flat characters; Miguel’s mother, younger sister Angelita, aunt, and cousin are gentle, caring, and domestic like the Virgin Mary, for whose altar Miguel purchases special candles in the United States (104). Contrary to contemporary US stereotypes of Mexicans, the father is neither poor, nor macho, nor working...