The Persistance of Immigrants in Charles Bowden's Blue

For many, our goal is to reach the American Dream: a good job, a home we can call our own, and wealth. However, there are others who only dream of it because they are stuck in a hole that restricts them from reaching it. Charles Bowden, author of “Blue”, takes readers on a journal across the desert to get a better understanding on why people from Mexico risk their lives to cross to the United States. He provides detailed images and descriptions of Mexicans that have lost their lives trying to cross the desert. Along with his friend Bill, they travel across the desert and encounter danger with snakes, the effects of extreme weather conditions, and experiences thirst, hunger, and fatigue.

In the beginning, Bowden “was sitting at [his] desk in September when a news story caught his eye: seven Mexicans had died of thirst east of Yuma and several more had been snake bitten” (Bowden). To his dismay, the incidents were not treated as important matters because they were from Mexico. What captives the author is that Mexicans are willing to risk their own lives to cross over to the United States. In trying to understand this notion, he begins an expedition through the desert and follows the paths Mexicans traveled and the situations they encountered. As their journey begins, they come in contact with a snake but manage to escape death. Soon after, they begin to experience the effects of harsh weather conditions. With heat “the body temperature soars and the brain seems to cook. The flesh feels electric with pain as each cell screams out its complaint” (Bowden). They finally reach the Republic of Mexico illegally where they meet up with an officer. Unlike American officers, Mexican officers have a reputation of bending laws and instead of ticketing people, they often ask for money.

Ending their journey, they have learned more of what it feels to be a Mexican traveling the desert. Bowden has also decided to write this story about his experiences to give readers an insight on what happens to people who are willing to risk their lives to live the American Dream.