Where It All Goes Down
California
Except for the first couple of paragraphs, this entire story takes place in California. (By the way, we could go on forever about California in this book. And we do—just check out the "Themes" section.)
Francisco and his family move all around California's central coast, and each town they live in sees the family members harvesting different crops. Sometimes it can be confusing trying to figure out where they're living in each chapter, but don't worry, Shmoopsters—whenever our characters hop from one place to the next, we'll let you know in the "Summary" section.
So since they're traveling all over California, they're basically in the land of beaches and movie stars, right? We wish. But from the get-go, Francisco and his family learn that their California setting comes in two different versions:
California #1: What California Seems Like
So California seems like a really great place. After all, there's sand and sun, so what's not to love?
Before Francisco and his family move to California, they have big dreams about what it'll be like. And when we say big, we mean seriously huge. Just take a look at Francisco's chitchat with his brother about their soon-to-be home state:
Noting that Papá had closed his eyes, I turned to Roberto and asked, "What's California like?"
"I don't know," he answered, "but Fito told me that people there sweep money off the streets." (1.10-11)
Okay, so… there's some major exaggeration happening here, but this makes it super clear to us that Francisco and his big brother have high hopes for their new setting. They may not actually believe there will be money on the streets, but they sure are looking forward to life being pretty sweet.
California #2: What California Is Really Like
We have a feeling no vision of California could ever really live up to the sweeping-money-off-the-streets hype—but we're sad to say that sometimes California really misses the mark. Not only does it not rain money, but money can be pretty hard to come by since jobs are seasonal and kind of scarce. This means Francisco and his family live in a slightly less glamorous version of the Golden State:
We called it Tent City. Everybody called it Tent City, although it was neither a city nor a town. It was a farm worker labor camp owned by Sheehey Strawberry Farms.
Tent City had no address; it was simply known as rural Santa Maria. It was on Main Street, about ten miles east of the center of town. Half a mile east of it were hundreds of acres of strawberries cultivated by Japanese sharecroppers and harvested by people from the camp. Behind Tent City was dry wilderness, and a mile north of it was the city dump. Many of the residents in the camp were single men, most of whom, like us, had crossed the border illegally. There were a few single women and a few families, all Mexican. (4.1-2)
We're pretty sure cousin Fito never mentioned living by the city dump when he was talking about sunny California. In fact, this picture looks seriously different than all those big dreams we heard about. Instead of sweeping up money, Francisco and his family work in labor camps harvesting crops all year round. What do you think of Francisco's tone here? Does he sound sad about where he's living? Or is he okay with it?
There is a stark contrast between Francisco and his family's hopes for their new setting and the reality of their experience of it. To dig a little deeper into this, be sure to check out the analysis of landscapes in the "Themes" section.