VI.

     In his novella, “…And the Earth did not Devour Him”, Tomás Rivera aimed to portray the “suffering and the strength and the beauty…[of] the migrant worker[s]”. Through multiple heart-wrenching sections, he manages to do this perfectly. The section entitled “The Night Before Christmas” tells the story of a Dona Maria, a selfless and loving woman who, after one of her children sadly explains: “[Santa Claus and the three Wisemen] always forget. They’ve never brought us anything, not on Christmas Eve, not on the day of the Three Kings” (Rivera, 130), is determined to get toys for them despite a crippling anxiety and not having the funds to do so. In this section, Rivera employs multiple techniques to convey his desire to portray the suffering, strength, and beauty of the migrant workers. One of the most effective techniques used by Rivera is his attempt to evoke emotion from the reader. Consistent with a technique that he uses throughout the novella, Rivera first uses children to emphasize the emotional appeal, illustrating that Dona Maria’s children do not understand how much the family lives in poverty and are continuously disappointed that Santa Claus has forgotten about them. While their father, Don Chon, is quick to admit that the “[the children] don’t need anything” (Rivera, 131), Dona Maria is committed to providing toys for them. These initial paragraphs mildly introduce the idea of migrant suffering – of the fact that many families were forced to live in extreme poverty.
     Perhaps even more apparent in this section is Rivera’s portrayal of the beauty and strength of migrant workers. It is revealed that Dona Maria – a character who “very rarely left home” (Rivera, 131) – suffers from crippling anxiety and, despite this, decides to go downtown on her own to buy gifts for the children. Not only does this portion of the text show the mental strength of Dona Maria, but of the incredible selflessness and overwhelming sense of motherly nature that she possesses. Rivera’s use of emotional appeal generates a deep level of sympathy from the audience, who cannot help but sympathize with the loving mother who is, evidently, willing to do anything to make her children happy. This technique of employing deeply emotional and relatable scenes is completely an effective tool in reaching his readers. These types of scenes and characters such as Dona Maria allow the audience to build a sense of connection and sympathy. The use of emotion in the text also allows for a more drastic message. The failure of Dona Maria to successfully provide gifts for her children after her experience was devastating to the reader. Within the reader, this emphasizes the level of suffering that the migrant workers encountered. Adding emotion enhances Rivera’s original goal of portraying the “suffering and the strength and the beauty…[of] the migrant worker[s]”.