65 pages • 2-hour read
Promise Boys
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.
Pupusas
The pupusas that Ramón bakes with his abuela symbolize the importance of community, emphasizing the theme of The Value of Family and Friendship. Pupusas, the national dish of El Salvador, are a corn flatbread filled with various ingredients like cheese or beans. As such, they emphasize the importance of Ramón’s Salvadoran heritage: He holds onto that heritage through his relationship with his abuela. He wakes up each morning to cook with her, helping her with her business while also taking some to sell at school. With the money from the sales, he hopes to save enough to open his own restaurant after high school. In this way, the pupusas emphasize the value of Ramón’s relationship with his abuela, his connection to his heritage, and his desire to improve his community through a new Salvadoran restaurant.
In a key scene in the novel, the pupusas symbolically bring the “Promise Boys” together for the first time. When they meet by chance in the park, the boys are initially hesitant, unsure whether they can trust each other. As they slowly share information, they realize that they will need to investigate and solve the murder on their own—as no one else is willing to do it for them. At the end of their meeting, Ramón pulls out his pupusas and shares them with his new friends. This moment symbolically brings the boys together, affirming their newfound trust and commitment to their friendship.
“Beep Beep Beep”
The phrase “beep beep beep” is a motif in the novel that repeats through each of the boys’ narrations. The onomatopoeia refers to the sound that the tablets make when the teachers use them to give demerits to the students at Promise. The first time it is introduced, J.B. mentions it in his discussion of the school’s policies, noting how the “beep…beep…beep” sound of the tablet stands out in the quiet halls (31), reminding the students of the control that the staff at Promise has over them. Later in the text, when Ramón is in the hall before school, he is cornered by Dean Hicks. Embarrassed by the argument that Ramón overheard, Hicks responds angrily, giving Ramón a demerit as he hears the “beep beep beep” of the tablet (134-35).
This motif serves to emphasize two important points about discipline and education at Promise. First, it shows the way that the demerit system imposes on their learning. When Ramón walks through the halls, he notes, “It’s going to be a stressful day, and carrying this much product around the school really does make me feel like a dealer. Beep beep beep. I can already hear the demerits. All those counts rising” (147). The “beep” infiltrates the lives of the students, instilling fear of discipline throughout their entire day. Second, it conveys the detached, mechanical way that the staff treats the students of Promise. The staff no longer has a reason to even engage with the students or attempt to correct their behavior through typical means; instead, they maintain control through their tablet. In this way, the tablet conveys the theme of The Impact of Systemic Racism. The staff has become so separate from discipline and control that they use a machine to instill fear in the students, dehumanizing them in the prison-like environment of Promise.
Promise’s Motto
The motto of Promise Prep is a motif in the novel that emphasizes the change that the school undergoes throughout the course of the text. As J.B. discusses the school’s policies, he first mentions the motto. The students are forced to memorize it and then recite it three times throughout the day, conveying the importance that Principal Moore places on the words. The motto reads,
We promise.
We are the young men of Urban Promise Prep.
We are destined for greatness.
We are college bound.
We are primed for success.
We are extraordinary because we work hard.
We are respectful, dedicated, committed, and focused.
We are our brother’s keepers.
We are responsible for our futures.
We are the future.
We promise (29-30).
The militaristic way that the students are forced to read the motto—and the words themselves—convey the theme of The Impact of Systemic Racism. The motto is a part of the prison-like environment of the school, forcing the students to memorize and recite it to reaffirm their commitment to the school. Additionally, the words focus on the role that the school plays in their success, emphasizing the idea that they are successful only because they are “primed,” “respectful” to those who teach them, and “focused” on the school. It also aligns “greatness” with being “college bound,” eliminating any non-traditional ways to define success. In this way, the motto removes autonomy from the students, instead placing the value on education and Promise itself.
In direct contrast to the original motto, Mrs. Hall implements a new motto when she takes over the school. Hers shifts the focus of the motto to the students themselves, emphasizing the value that they hold to themselves—over the value of the school. For example, her motto eliminates the “college bound” line and then simply states, “We are extraordinary” (292), without the qualifier of needing to work hard. Additionally, she chooses to replace the adjectives of “respectful, dedicated, committed, and focused” with simply “respect, wisdom, and grace” (292). These changes convey the change that has occurred at Promise and will hopefully continue at the school. Instead of a militaristic, prison-like school that the students are supposed to feel honored to be a part of, the new motto highlights the importance of the students themselves.
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