Who Is Hector Tobar's Anger In The Barbarian Nurseries

In Hector Tobar’s, The Barbarian Nurseries, he brings to light the personal and political anger directed at Araceli by those who do not even know her. In a wider scope, the anger is directed towards undocumented Mexican immigrants who are living in the United States. Through the character’s ideas on illegal immigrants, Hector Tobar implies that the private and public anger towards undocumented Mexican immigrants, stem from the assumption that they are all dangerous, fear of cultural change, and their impact on the economy. Due to undocumented Mexican immigrants who crossed the border illegally, many often assume that they are criminals. Many are angry because they believe that the immigrants have no right to be in the United States, and

Thoughts come to mind when we hear of a Mexican name. According to Deputy Suarez, “when you heard a Spanish surname that ended with a z, you thought of Mexicans and the various federal codes they violated when they jumped over a steel fence into the United States” (Tobar 238). The first thing that comes to mind when a Spanish name is heard is that they illegally crossed the border, which makes them with a criminal. People with a Spanish or Spanish sounding last name, are immediately thought of as immigrants who are breaking the law, thus being a criminal. It is then automatically assumed that the immigrants will continue to do illicit things in America. Many Mexicans are also assumed to be dangerous because of crimes in Mexico such as “kidnapping rings that snared doctors and school teachers and the children” (Tobar 239). Because these crimes were associated with Mexicans, people fear that they would bring these behaviors into America. Assumptions made about Mexicans can be unfortunate for many innocent immigrants like Araceli. Araceli is automatically assumed to have done the worse when the children went missing, solely because she is a Mexican that illegally crossed the border. Very few people knew who Araceli really was, so it was easy for those who had heard of her or had seen her on TV to assume that she had kidnapped the children. They became angry at the thought of having dangerous undocumented Mexicans living in the same community and assumptions are made based on her