The Devil's Highway Sparknotes

In Luis Urrea’s true account novel “The Devil’s Highway” deeply thought provoking tale of 26 men who literally walked through madness incarnate. A tale that is still not entirely told due to over half the men were claimed by the desert; a living breathing ocean of fire. Even though over half of the men who took the challenge died, the story that the living told is still amazing and gut-wrenching. With Luis’s in-depth investigation and interviews, he paints a vivid story layered in deception, hope, struggle, and death so horrific that it has stained the Arizona Desert as a haunted man eating place that angels and demons dwell. The way that he carefully examines and defines the walkers; unceremoniously coined “Pollos” by those that are supposed

to lead them to a new fantastic life here in America. Luis Urreas’ humanistic depiction of the “walkers”, those who died and of those that survived is so detailed that you really begin to wonder if Luis himself wasn’t walking beside them through their ordeal. The things that drove these select men into the blazing desert ranges, but most are in search for a better life for themselves and the ones they love.
The book makes great strides to relay that these doomed men were not what we here in America would consider to be the “typical” Mexicans.

Most, if not all the men came from indigenous backgrounds and Spanish was their second language. Most have never even eaten typical Mexican food such as tortillas, most of them still eat as their ancestors the Aztecs did. Luis makes note that north Mexico was as foreign to them as America was. Their naivety showed in spades from the start. The spark of high hopes, jokes, and whispered excitement resonates from the very beginning of their journey. From being blatantly being lied to by the Coyotes, their total lack of foresight when they purchased two Pepsi’s for their journey across a desert notorious for unremorsly claiming everything for itself and where it was almost a constant 108* throughout the entire

day.
All the men were hoping for a better life in America. They hoped to find jobs and send money back to help their families, instead most left grieving widows and family members, some who may even to this day not even know that their loved ones never walked out of the desert they bravely challenged. The overarching themes that Mr. Urrea presents throughout the book is how many people actually take the insane deal of the Coyotes and mafia families. With most of the men making deals with Don Moi with insane interest tacked onto the already high price to be shepherd north, unknowingly; or perhaps they did know, but chose to ignore that gut instinct and happily or even hesitantly agree to be deceived and indebted to the man behind all of it, Chespiro. We may never know.
Luis Urreas style of writing in this book takes on a life all its own.

The methods that he deploys to share this story help to expand and draw you into their story and what was happening in their minds. He so vividly explains in detail the way the human body responds to such torture in the desert that I’m sure if any of these men knew what could happen they would have stuffed their pesos back into their pockets and went home and forgetting all about Mars bars, and ice cold American beer. Some of the methods he uses to convey the hardships that all involved endure is by delving deeply into the history and available records on this incident. Luis painstakingly scours over testimony, trial records, and interviews with both the survivors and the Border Patrol that recovered

them.
It seems this narrative has been on a continuous loop since recorded history. For so many people who feel disenfranchised with their own government and communities, moving to another land is all that is left for them to turn to. Even if it is economic reasons or religious freedoms that drive people to seek a new home, as far back as when the indigenous peoples of Mexico faced incoming racism from the Spaniards or the class struggles that followed soon after and has remained to this day. People looking to make a better life for the ones they love, to even risk their lives for those people. It should be commended.
Some of the strengths of this book are that Luis uses strong sources to retell the actual facts as they are remembered by those that survived. Even though some of the material changes dude to different accounts, the event itself remains coherent enough when looked at by an investigative mindset. The only thing that limits this book is that the dead will never let go of their story and Luis can only guess on the motives or circumstances of those that disappeared or decided to not simply show up for work. This recounting of the last hours of those doomed to be swallowed whole by the desert could have changed the policies that both governments enforce, could have been more pliable and forgiving, the fact that could have kept these desperate men from pushing aside the risk and partaking on this hazardous journey ill prepared.
My opinion of this book is very high. I found myself very engaged and intrigued with the style of the writing. I found myself picturing the events as an episode of “I shouldn’t be alive”. The level of detail that Luis puts into this story is some of the best ive ever read. The level he goes into to tell the reader exactly what happens to the body when dying in the desert is so detailed it made me uncomfortable, to imagine the pain, distress, and hopelessness the journey invoked on these men when all they wanted was a better life. As I read this book being a silent watcher looking down upon them as they trudged into the inferno of grit and stone knowing where most of them will end up is a hard thing to think about. Even harder to think about is all the journeys that had no survivors; the ones lost and kept by the desert. Makes me wonder just how many rooster and spur belt buckles has it taken from foolish challengers for its trophy collection?