The Crossing

Gary Paulsen

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1987

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Character Analysis

Mañuel Bustos, “Manny”

As an orphan on the streets of Juárez, Manny has no one to take care of him. His independence and self-reliance are essential skills for day-to-day survival. Although Manny is unsure of his exact date of birth, he is about 14 years old. Despite lacking education, he is street-smart and resourceful, as shown when he learns how to get food from vendors at the market through observation and experience. With his red hair, brown eyes, and long eyelashes, Manny is particularly vulnerable to the traffickers who steal and sell children. To make matters worse, he has a small build, which makes him weaker than many of the other boys on the street. Manny lives in a constant state of desperation and danger, yet he is not hardened or made cruel by it. Still, his desperation leads Manny to attempt to pickpocket Robert, driving the narrative forward and eventually leading to a change in Manny’s character.

The sergeant intrigues Manny, who loves heroes like Pancho Villa and prizefighter Mañuel Bustos (whose name he took for his own). Robert seems to embody some of the heroic qualities Manny appreciates. Above all, however, Manny sees the sergeant as a possible source of money and assistance crossing the border. At first, Manny lies in response to the sergeant’s questions, a tactic he uses often to garner sympathy and money. However, he soon learns his deceptions will not work on the sergeant, who is different from any soldier or tourist Manny has encountered. Motivated by Robert’s compassion towards him, Manny finally tells Robert the truth and asks directly for his help. For the first time in his life, Manny discovers someone who is willing to help him at all costs. Manny learns the freedom that comes with telling the truth and experiences an unfathomable act of kindness from a near stranger. Although Paulsen does not indicate whether or not Manny makes it to the United States, he uses Manny’s character to provide a description of life on the streets in Juárez, and to educate the reader on the hardship and desperation that drives people to leave their homes in search of stability and safety.

Sergeant Robert Locke

Robert is a military man, and a significant part of his identity comes from his role as a sergeant. Everything about his physical appearance and the room in which he lives manifests military regulations, from his impeccably neat uniform to his “drum-tight” bunk (15). With his blue eyes, short hair, and rigid posture, others see Robert as a man who is not to be questioned. However, Paulsen develops a second side to Robert: a man who is kind, compassionate, and gentle. Paulsen shows how Locke’s two sides manifest at different moments, depending on what Locke is doing or how he is feeling. He either lives in a numb, inebriated fog as Robert, or switches to the sergeant when he must be sober.

Paulsen suggests that Locke experiences PTSD because of his military service. Locke not only switches between two personas to deal with his memories of battle and fellow soldiers, but he also drinks excessively to drown memories that are painful to deal with. Paulsen describes the single scar Locke has on his skin and contrasts it with the many scars he has internally. Robert’s thoughts are often recorded in a steam-of-consciousness style and are accompanied by brief flashbacks. Paulsen uses these strings of thoughts and flashbacks to emphasize that Locke lives in a fog much of the time. Robert often mixes up memories and locations before eventually sorting them out. Flashbacks also provide information about Robert’s past and fill in the gaps indirectly about the mental health issues he faces now and where they originated.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

8,800+ In-Depth Study Guides
4,700+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
Downloadable PDFs

After meeting Manny, Locke begins to change incrementally. At first, Manny is just another boy on the street who lies, and Robert knows Manny wants money. He doesn’t help Manny out of any special concern. However, after witnessing the bullfight, Robert seems more aware of his emotions. When Manny tells the truth and asks for his help, Robert hears himself agree and sincerely desires to help him. When the street gang surrounds Robert and asks for Manny, both of Locke’s personas—Robert and the sergeant—come together to defend Manny, reintegrating Robert’s trauma-fractured identity. By the novel’s end, Robert dies sacrificially for Manny. As he takes his final breath, he finally seems at peace with himself; he need not feel guilty for the battle trauma in his past, and he can face the friends who welcome him from the other side.

Maria

Maria is one of the only other characters who shows kindness to Manny. She works at the Two-by-Four, a local Juárez café, as a cook. Manny visits the cooking stall in the morning while she works, and Maria often gives him a tortilla or food scraps. She wears her dark hair in a thick braid while she works flour and dough into tortillas on the grill. Maria functions as a symbol of Mexican culture in the novel, showcasing the life of a working adult in Juárez. She uses food as her love language, giving Manny what she can. Maria also embodies a balance between compassion and realism. She gives Manny a whole chicken even though she knows he will never be able to pay her for it. She also knows that he is unlikely to make it across the border, yet she is willing to risk getting in trouble with her boss to help him. Although her life is not an easy one and the city in which she lives gives her little hope for children like Manny, she maintains her compassion and generosity.