Summary: Epilogue

At an unspecified time after visiting José in Mexico, Francisco is camping in Big Bend National Park in Texas. He sees a man ride across the Rio Grande into the United States from Mexico. The man talks with him and invites him to visit his village. The next day, Francisco rides with the man across the river and is surprised how easy the crossing is. Francisco asks him if there are any cameras or sensors, and the man says there aren’t any. The man also claims there are no criminals in his village because the villagers protect themselves and each other. After eating breakfast in the village, Francisco goes hiking, and the trail ends at the banks of the river. He swims in the river, and the water feels like “human hands” washing him. He crosses the invisible border repeatedly and sees how the two sides of the river are the same land.

Analysis: Epilogue

After the tragic story of José’s deportation, the epilogue presents a much more optimistic scene. Francisco’s meeting with the rider who crosses into the United States casually echoes how easily he and his mother crossed into Mexico during their trip to Juárez. The man’s friendliness also hearkens back to the hospitality shown to Francisco in Juárez and further contrasts the impersonal, dehumanizing treatment José faced at the hands of the American justice system. Francisco’s questions about cameras and sensors show he still has the instincts of a Border Patrol agent. Here people cross the border without difficulty, illustrating the ridiculousness of criminalizing such a trivial activity.

This moment also makes clear the meaning of the book’s title. The imaginary “line” that is the US-Mexico border becomes the physical river. When Francisco swims in the river, it also parallels his refusal to join his mother in the water years ago during their trip together. Now, Francisco embraces the water and enjoys swimming across the border. He finally understands what his mother tried to teach him all those years ago, that the border was always an illusion. Francisco recognizes now that the land is the land, regardless of what laws reign on either side of a river.