In his novel, …And the Earth did not Devour Him, Tomás Rivera wanted to portray the “suffering and the strength and the beauty . . . [of] the migrant worker[s], the people I had known best.” I personally believe that he accomplished his goal. That portrayal of suffering and strength is notable in the section titled “…And the Earth did not Devour Him.” This section captures a range of emotions that show the readers that migrant workers did suffer but the way that they dealt with it demonstrated strength, he portrayed those emotions through the use of anecdotes as well as dialogue.
Rivera placed a short anecdote before the actual short story as a way of emphasizing the repetitive suffering that this boy and his family were constantly going through. The section starts with the narrator sharing a short anecdote about the first time that the boy felt hate and anger. “The first time he felt hate and anger was when he saw his mother crying for his uncle and his aunt…He became angry because he was unable to do anything against anyone” (Rivera 1246). The anecdotes that are shared are often tragic and sometimes happy, they serve as a way of emphasizing the suffering as well as the strength of the migrant community.
Rivera also makes great use of dialogue to strengthen his portrayal of suffering and strength in the migrant worker community. The boy expresses a range of emotions through his dialogue. We know that much of this community relies on religion as a way of remaining sane and strong. They hold on to the idea that “the poor go to heaven” to justify their poverty and suffering. However we see the young boy question his religion because there is so much suffering. “And there you are, helpless, And them, begging for God’s help…why, God doesn’t care about us…I don’t think there even is…No, better not say it” (Rivera, 1268). The boy does, however, at one point state the beauty of how religion keeps the community strong regardless of the suffering, although he may not realize it. “I guess that at least gives him some hope” (Rivera, 1268).