Analytic Entry: Short Story

Reading statistics and information on a rough topic only gives one a general jest of what is going on in the topic. In the short story “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” it takes place in Mexican-American family’s home who are trying get past the troubles of being a migrant worker. It is told through the thoughts of a boy whose family are manly migrant workers. “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” gives the reader a full view of the hardships that a migrant worker’s family must go through.
All of the characters in the story, besides the boss of the workers, are Mexican immigrants. Not only are they all Mexican immigrants, but they have all also experienced trouble in their life through working in the farms. The main character, whose entire family were migrant workers, all struggled to get by in America. Early on in the story the reader learns that his aunt and uncle died from sunstroke because they were working in the hot sun for too long. This was one of the first things that struck up surprise. Once believed that it was very uncommon for someone to die from just working in the sun, however it was very different for these migrant workers. It was very common in this story that people would die from working for too long because they worked for so many hours under terrible conditions. If they ever tried to take a break they would be punished by their boss. When the boy’s mother is giving advice about working for so long, she wants to make sure that no matter what he takes a break. “Just drink plenty of water every little while. It don’t matter if the boss gets mad. Just don’t get sick,” (“…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him”). At that time in his family his aunt and uncle had died from sunstroke and his father was starting to get very sick, so it was very important that he would not get sick by any means necessary. The only way for him to do that was accept his punishment because their bosses did not care how their workers felt, he just cared that all the work be done no matter what the conditions were. The boy who was the main character, felt frustrated with how his life was because of how terribly he was being treated and how he was unable to do anything about it.
Helplessness was a very big theme throughout the short story. These workers had no money, and if they lost their job then their family would not be able to survive. For these families it was either die from working for too long, or not be able to support one’s family because they took a break. The main boy complained to his mother about how bad their situation was, and how they were helpless. “How come we’re like this, like we’re buried alive? Either the germs eat us alive or the sun burns us up. Always some kind of sickness. And every day we work and work. For what?” (““…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him”). These immigrants were unable to do anything about their situation because in order for them to survive they had to work, and work would often lead to death. This was a vicious cycle that the workers were unable to control because of their situation.
The short story “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” was trying to express to the reader how terribly treated the migrant workers were. What they had to go through was unbearably, family members dying and living in awful conditions, was wrong and unjust. This story was trying to show the frustration of what they had to go through as an immigrant. The inevitable cycle that lead to many problems of either working till you get sick and possibly die, or taking a break from work and possibly getting fired and become unable to support for one’s family.