The Devil’s Highway: Designed to Kill When the Wellton 26 began their journey on the Devil’s Highway, they had no way of knowing that half of them would not make it to the other side. They were told they would walk through the desert for a day and then they would be on their way to their own version of the American Dream. But no outcome other than suffering and death should have been expected, since they were being led into one of the deadliest parts of North America, with almost nothing to help them survive. Like many before them, they were doomed to die. The Devil’s Highway is a ruthless death trap. The first recorded death to take place along the Devil’s Highway occurred on January 18, 1541 (Urrea 5). Countless deaths happened before this, and just as many have happened after. It does not matter whether those who stumble through this desert are natives or explorers, US citizens or undocumented migrants; the Devil’s Highway can and will kill anyone. During the California Gold Rush, many hoped that the Devil’s Highway would bring them to the promise of gold and riches sooner, but this wasn’t the case for everyone. It was estimated in 1860 that more than two-thousand people had died near one of the few water sources in this area (Cahill 1). While the trail later fell out of use due to the invention of the …show more content…
The Cabeza Prieta Wilderness is an unforgiving and unwelcoming entrance for these migrants and others like them into the United States. If men are willing to risk their lives crossing through this harsh area, it shows how determined they are to make it to the other side. The Devil’s Highway is designed to kill, with its poisonous animals, vicious plants, and relentless, burning heat. Like all of the migrants who died before them, and have died, the 14 victims of the Wellton 26 have become mere names on the list of deceased along the hellish Devil’s
The book, The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, is based on the true story of the Yuma-14 or Wellstone 26, who were Mexicans that crossed the American border and died while doing so. This novel goes through not only the story of the Yuma-14 but the background of what happened before their journey and after their deaths, as well as the mentalities of the Border Patrol agents. It gives you the complete picture of what had happened. The Devil’s Highway starts off with a brief background about what happened.
Literary Analysis Research Paper The Devil’s Highway is a small section of the Sonoran Desert that must be crossed to make it into America. The Devil’s Highway, written by Luis Alberto Urrea is about a group of men crossing through one of the deadliest regions in Arizona’s deserts. Through this crossing, they had to face the hardships and conditions of this highly harsh desert. Many of these men died for the opportunity of freedom and a new life for their families.
The Devil’s Lane causes the reader to look past straightforward history and delve into the complexities of early southern society. By doing this the reader then no longer sees the south as a place of war and strict politics, but instead a heavy mixture of race and sex. One can now see that interracial laws were not preventative action but instead a way to punish those who loved another or freed slaves wanted to better their standing. Or they could see how quickly the public could change their minds on who has their rights and who is not. The book also shows how quickly things could be changed for the benefit of another.
Imagine the sight of an open blue sky, trees growing, and warm dry grass moving briskly by the air. And, in front of this scene, there is a wonderful endless pit, stained by blood and some partial limbs. The whole world has just decided to jump off a cliff, because why not escape the dark gripping fears that life holds? Society has darred and pushed each other off to this dark encasing hole. Sure it will hurt, but only for a little bit, right?
Humans rarely change their ways; they stay in their own worlds and always interact with the same types of people. Unfortunately, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate human beings from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea provides a personal perspective to immigration by telling the story of 26 illegal immigrants, known as the Wellton 26, who are abandoned as they cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea proves there are invisible borders among people that create prejudice, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. By reading The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that these barriers must be broken down to ensure harmony within society.
Erik J. Wielenberg argues that The Road implies morality doesn’t depend upon God for existence or justification. It’s the nature of humans to desire things and for the things they do to make sense. The man validates this point because he wants to keep going and tells himself that he carries the fire. In the story fire represents life and goodness. He carries the fire, which he believes is his son.
On these islands I estimate there are 2,100 leagues of land that have been ruined and depopulated, empty of people.” (Las Casas) Nothing positive came from the people of Spain setting foot on the land of the Indians. Depopulation was just one of many hazardous effects that the Spaniards
Some terrains and environments made the journey hard and possibly deadly. The National Oregon/California Trail Center says that “Crossing rivers were probably the most dangerous thing pioneers did. Swollen rivers could tip over and drown both people and oxen. ”There were many rivers to cross during the long ride, and crossing them was the only way to get around the rivers. These accidents were almost unavoidable.
Though at first, the Spanish were reluctant, they soon realized that it was imperative to try to heal the sick as their own survival depended on it. Estebanico describes that “the cures we performed may not have healed everyone we attended, but I can vouch that they saved four lives: our own” (Lalami 232). The interactions between castaways and the Indians were substantial in challenging the common European perspective of the Indians as “inferior savages”. Though the conquistadors in the novel were initially wary of the Indians, they later realized that their ways were crucial to
It was 1965 and Evel Knievel had just landed a 90-foot crate filled with 50 rattlesnakes and 2 lions. Although this jump was one of his stunts that left him unharmed other than a sprained ankle, it put others at risk. During his landing, the back tire of his motorcycle had hit the edge of box and allowed some of the snakes to escape. The audience that was watching Knievel’s stunt were terrified and had to run away in order to avoid the snakes. Despite knowing the risks of this stunt, he continued with it anyway.
In the 1800’s many people were traveling on the trail to Oregon, this journey was not all that it seemed to be for many. People faced many hardships that would effect their lives and their journey. To start, since the trail was so long and people would go with lots of people food ran out quickly for most, this caused people to become sick or even starve to death. If this where to happen people would not have any supplies to properly dispose of the body they would just have to bury them in the ground, which may be hard for some. There was also the possibility you would encounter a unfriendly indian that would either kidnap, kill, or molest you.
John’s book, like all others, holds various strengths and weaknesses. Largely, St. John’s thesis is supported by offering a varying look at the borderlands throughout multiple decades and discussing the progression of change as it occurred across eras and regions. St. John provides interesting historical details that would otherwise probably not be known to the reader, such as her statement in the Introduction that the desert border running from west of El Paso to the Pacific Ocean did not conform to any previously existing geographic features. This fact, like others provided in “Line in the Sand,” might not seem interesting but indeed is in the sense that it forces the reader to consider it and to contextualize it based on what the reader knows of the border. For example, reading this fact, I was forced to contemplate how the border boundary was formed west of Texas and how the line that is in place to day came to be.
In the 1840s, travelers had to eat dead horses and mules that died of exhaustion while pulling wagons. In modern day, people can stop at a restaurant for food along the way. In present time, people also have hotels to sleep in and to bathe in while traveling, but people traveling to Oregon had to sleep outside on the ground and had to bathe in
In Cormac Mccarthy's novel, The Road, the overall outlook on humanity and life is negative. Death, fear, and sadness consumes humans lives. Mccarthy mainly writes about how darkness has taken over in this apocalyptic world in The Road. The apocalypse has unrooted many humans making them live in harsh ways, even turning them into cannibalistic animals. Some events make the father and son live in fear.
Ever had a mental “fork in the road?” Of course you have. We all have those tough decisions to make at times. William Stafford’s “Traveling Through the Dark” is about one of those very instances. But there’s more to it than meets the eye.