Summary Of Into The Beautiful North By Luis Alberto Urrea

The experiences that one has throughout their life can shape them as a person. Culture, family, environment, and friends all impact people as they grow up, especially as young adults. In the novel, Into the Beautiful North, by Luis Alberto Urrea, the main character, Nayeli, develops from events throughout the story. 19 year old Nayeli shows the most leadership and this is a key factor in the development of her character. Nayeli also has strong relationships with the other characters. These characters form Nayeli as a person. Nayeli’s journey to America brings new experiences and troubling times, this causes her leadership and relations with people to be tested. The factors of leadership, relationships, and new experiences develop Nayeli as

Being a leader gives Nayeli different opportunities and more responsibility. More opportunities and more responsibilities challenge and change Nayeli’s character. Nayeli formulates the plan of saving the Tres Camarones population. Nayeli shares her exciting plan here, “We can repopulate our town. We can save Mexico. It begins with us! It’s the new revolution!” (56). Nayeli’s popularity in the town is a probable reason of why the people agreed to this plan. The plan brings pressure upon Nayeli: “Tacho said nothing. Nayeli couldn’t tell if he was angry or depressed. Vampi was so scared she could not stop crying. Yolo was mad, she wanted to slap Nayeli’s face and go back home” (154). Nayeli’s leadership in bringing the group to America gives her the responsibility of keeping them safe and sane. Nayeli’s friends (Vampi, Tacho, and Yolo) start to get frustrated and annoyed at her plan because of the struggles they had to go through. Nayeli and Tia Irma are much alike in the ways of being a strong leader. Nayeli develops as a strong leader by learning from Tia Irma, so much so that Tia Irma states, “You are stronger than I’ll ever be. Yes, I am Irma! Yes, I am La Osa! (...) But I am the only person in my village…” (315). Nayeli’s strong leadership is valued by her fellow comrades because she encouraged them to be strong when they started to feel

Her appearance as a beautiful, young, used-to-be soccer player lead many guys to like her. The people in Tres Camarones are all very close because of how little the population is. Nayeli, Vampi, and Yolo are known as the notorious girlfriends. Nayeli’s relationship to Tacho is as a close friend. They go through struggles together, but still remain very close. On the road trip to Kankakee, Nayeli acts as a leader and a friend to Tacho, by encouraging him to keep driving and taking care of him when he got sick. Nayeli soothes Tacho by saying, “Almost there, Tachito. Almost there. I’ll put you in bed as soon as we get there. Don’t worry” (307). She acts motherly and caring towards Tacho. On the journey to America, Nayeli meets many culturally different people. These people that she meet do not have major roles in the book. They all have impacts on shaping Nayeli’s character. The men that Nayeli encounter along the streets of the Tijuana expose her to the stranger danger that is much more visible in the larger cities. Her relations to Don Porfirio and Dona Araceli show Nayeli that not every stranger is bad natured. The Tres Camarones group is cared for by complete strangers as seen here, “They were too tired to be afraid or worried as they followed him. Araceli walked beside Nayeli, patting her back softly” (112). The people from the dump show Nayeli how to be kind and caring. Nayeli’s father, Don Pepe, had a