The Book of Unknown Americans

Very traditionalist gender roles govern the lives of the characters in the novel. While husbands go to work and children head to school, the women wait at home, often lonely and feeling bereft of purpose. Though financially all of these characters seem to be among the working poor, it is never an option for the women to work. Rafael becomes incensed that Celia would even suggest getting a job to him. While Celia is upset when Mayor gets in a fist fight, Rafael is not worried about the fighting and is more upset that his son has lied about playing a sport. Mayor engages in his own fantasies about protecting Maribel though he sees by the end of the novel that he cannot do that, and doesn’t have to. As Maribel tells him before she leaves, “[f]inding is for things that are lost. You don’t need to find me, Mayor” (263). 

Although Fito the landlord wants to make Alma feel more at home when he tells her, “Here is us! Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay...[y]ou’ll fit right in,” his comment also speaks to the entrenched segregation of the area and American society in general (36).