Into The Beautiful North Luis Alberto Urrea

There are two ways in which success is determined; Whether or not one was able to reach their goal, and how one is affected by the journey and it’s occurrences.Yes, a prince can save the princess, but if he destroys the kingdom in the process, would his quest still be seen as successful? In Luis Alberto Urrea’s novel, Into the Beautiful North, Nayeli and her friends venture to America on a mission to bring back 7 Mexican soldiers and police officers to their village, Tres Caramones, so that they can protect their town from the dangerous bandidos. Many people would say that Nayeli’s mission was indeed successful because they were able to bring 7 men back to the village. However, in Nayeli’s personal mission of bringing her father back with

them, she failed, making her overall mission was only partially successful.

In the beginning of the story, we learn that Tres Caramones is in danger of being taken over by a group of bandidos. After watching the movie The Magnificent Seven , Nayeli came up with a plan. “We go,” she said, “we find seven men who want to come home…We interview men. Only cops or soldiers can come,” (ITBN, 55). “We have a mission,” Nayeli said, “we’re only going there to bring men back home,” (ITBN, 55). Nayeli and her friends had a mission and without the help of Aunt Irma, they were able to recruit 4 men. On their journey, Nayeli and her companions were able to recruit Atomíko, an ex-sergeant from the Mexican Army, Alejandro or El Brujo who had intentions to start a band but had failed, Chava Chavarín, La Osa’s lost lover, and finally, Angel, an ex-member of the Mexican Navy. With these four men they already had half of the men they needed, but when Aunt Irma

came to the US, that number easily tripled. Some might argue that the mission’s success was not Nayeli’s doing because “there was no way La Osa was going to allow anyone but herself to recruit the warriors, Nayeli realized. She was being demoted, even if Aunt Irma didn’t mean to demote her,” (ITBN, 260). Though even with that fact, Aunt Irma still gives her the credit. “It’s a great thing that you’ve done,” (ITBN, 312), “You started something m’ija!” (ITBN, 314) “You changed the world...you did something I could never do. You came here on a mission,” (ITBN, 313). While Nayeli went to search for her father, the two had a conversation in which Aunt Irma revealed how the recruitment was going. “‘There were many men,’ La Osa said. ‘How many?’ ‘Seventy.’ and ‘After long consideration, we took twenty-seven,’” (ITBN, 313). They only needed seven but in the end they were able to recruit 31 men. That number is 4 times over their original goal and their not even done yet. “I called my comradre Tavor in Tecuala. She’s flying up here next week to interview the rest of the seventy,” (ITBN, 314) They still plan on bringing more men and that shows that their mission was only the beginning step to something great. After learning about the men Nayeli was worried about how they were going to get all the men over, but at the end of the story we see that it wasn’t an issue. “Pepino laughed and gestured down at them. ‘Nayeli and Tacho,’ he warned, ‘brought an army!’” (ITBN, 338) “Now the women of Tres Caramones were smiling,” (ITBN, 338) marking their journey and mission a wonderful success.
Although Nayeli succeeded in her original mission of bringing the men back to the village, she failed to bring her father back.

Before they left, Nayeli and her mother had a small conversation, “I wish you could go there,” Maria said. “To KANKAKEE. I wish you could bring him back.” “If I can,” she suddenly heard herself, promising, “I will,” (ITBN, 63). Throughout the story, Nayeli expresses her need to find her father. When talking to Aunt Irma over the phone Nayeli says, “I...I think I want to get my father,” (ITBN, 175). “To Kankakee,” Nayeli continued. “I want my father to come home,” (ITBN,175). When Nayeli was finally able to find her father, things did not go as she had planned. He wasn’t “moved by her brave journey to find him, to save her home,” (ITBN, 308). His features didn’t “soften and break into a smile,” (ITBN, 308). In reality, when Nayeli found her father, his arm was wrapped around another woman as he “accepted a kiss on the mouth from her and smacked her bottom as he yelped as she skipped inside. He briefly skimmed the neighborhood-his eyes passed right over Nayeli-before stepping inside and shutting the door,” (ITBN, 323). Nayeli was heartbroken, “She shook, she gasped, she shouted as loud as she could. “FATHER!” she wailed. Over and over,” (ITBN, 323). To Nayeli, “she had lost Yolo, she had lost Matt...She pondered Chava, too. Now that she had found him, would she lose Aunt Irma? To love?” (ITBN, 260) “Her world was coming apart. Pretty soon it would be

just her and Tacho. KANKAKEE, she told herself. What else remained but KANKAKEE?” (ITBN, 260) Her life was already falling apart and now with Kankakee gone, all she has is Tacho, however Tacho isn’t enough. When Arnie was taking them back to the station he asked, “Where’s that smile of yours?” (ITBN, 329) and with a frown, she replied “Gone,” (ITBN, 329).

In life, in America, we dream of succeeding. Success in a supposedly “ideal” American lifestyle is the “American Dream” that everyone hopes to achieve. However, when we work to reach our goals we are never truly aware of how the damage of our actions may falter the worth of our success. In the story we watch as Nayeli tries to complete two missions: one, bringing back the men so that Tres Caramones can be saved; and two, finding and bringing her father back with them. Yes, Nayeli did find and recruit the men for her village. Yes, Nayeli could’ve possibly saved the town from the bandidos, but she lost her father to another family. Nayeli lost her smile, her friends to love. Though, when the damages slightly overlook the positive, the mission’s success is only worth half the credit.