JE#5

The connection between 'Bodies on the Border' and The Flower In the Skull is a matter of a violence against 'border crossers' and their displacement that continues to this day, as a symbol of the 'open wound' that exists at the US-Mexico Border. Concha's rape in Alcala's novel was a prime example of violence on the indigenous 'border crosser', and her inability to escape the clutches of her perpetrator due to her impregnated state and imposition on the Native American Reserve of Papagos defined her displacement, through the feelings of 'being a stranger from Sonora' (Alcala, P.65). The feelings of displacement definitely linger into the present, with acts of violence following closely with it. Present day statistics, however, are much more eye-opening especially in today's 'modern' civilization. With nearly 2,200 bodies and remained recovered in Pima County alone since 2001, the real number of dead 'border crossers' along with the countless others currently crossing, lost, or dying, is insurmountable and exacerbates the feeling of displacement and hopelessness when one crosses a border in search of work or new beginnings. This type of travel is not just localized at the US-Mexico Border, but extends to the reaches of probably all borders in general just with a different story. The New York Times article touches on the issue of similar migrant deaths and displacement that occurs out in the Mediterranean Sea of those escaping economic and political disparities.