I Suppose You Would Call Me a Messenger

            All throughout her novel Tropic of Orange but especially with the character of Arcangel, Yamashita explores the literary tradition of magical realism so typical of Latin American author’s such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Indeed, Yamashita gives several nods to Marquez within the text, including the description of Latin America “with its one hundred years of solitude and its tropical sadness” (171) and how in “one instillation [Arcangel] wore wings and sat in a cage [and] Gabriel Garcia Marquez himself came to the opening” (48).

            Arcangel’s powers are numerous and fluid, ranging from the reality that he is at least five hundred years old (144) to his super strength, which he displays in pulling the loaded bus across the border (197). He also has the ability to transform his appearance, as “unseen by anyone, he…transformed himself [from an old man] into a motley personage: part superhero, part professional wrestler, part Subcomandante Marcos” (132).

            The personage, El Gran Mojado, is a great champion among the Mexicanos, “the man going north” (132). His enemy SUPERNAFTA, who is in many ways the great bully of the north, adds to his larger than life persona and in many ways their showdown is the climax of the novel. While there are several prominent narratives going throughout the novel—the overpass situation, the illegal trade of baby organs—Arcangel’s story actually connects everything as he moves the Tropic from just north of Mazatlan to Los Angeles, distorting time and space. The effect of this is actually quite similar to the effect of NAFTA; a union of north and south, but also a dispute.

            My interest in the character of Arcangel was gradual, and the more his story became synonymous with border politics, the more I was drawn in. As a scholar of Latino Studies as well as English, I found a lot of his struggles with migration, albeit magically enhanced, translated into the typical Latino experience. The chapters dedicated to Arcangel explore the migrant experience, the common sentiment of distrust and distaste for “Big Brother” in the north, and the permeation of the geographical and cultural border.