Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2006

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Part 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 5: “Unpinned”

Part 5, Chapter 16 Summary: “Riverside, California”

Upon his return to Riverside, Rigoberto reflects on everything he learned there, from academic knowledge to the fact that jeans come in different sizes, having previously just had altered clothes from Goodwill. Rigoberto describes how his lover was a magic key to “the wonders of the greater world” (196). When he gets back home, Rigoberto calls his lover and then goes over to his apartment, where they have sex.

Rigoberto and his lover continue their relationship, but his lover no longer asks him to “ghost whisper” to him, which was a sign of their intimacy. One day, Rigoberto confronts him about being late to meet him and his lover hits him in the face, knocking off his glasses. A few days later, his lover tells him that he is taking him to a party in Beverly Hills. Rigoberto gets dressed up for the party, but his lover never shows. Two days after that, his lover calls again saying that they are going on a boat trip around Catalina Island with some friends, and neither mentions that he stood Rigoberto up. On the boat trip with other older gay men and their younger lovers, Rigoberto’s lover acts coldly toward him, and Rigoberto ends up as de facto bar tender. The next day, they have a huge fight and Rigoberto wakes up in the living room, bruised and bloody. Rigoberto tries to call his paternal grandparents, but there is no answer, and he realizes that he has no other way to get in contact with his family. Rigoberto resolves to walk away.

Part 5, Chapter 17 Summary: “Ghost Whisper to My Lover”

In what Rigoberto describes as “a token of forgiveness” (204), he tells a story from when he was in the college prep classes in high school. He was the only Latino student in the classes and he largely kept to himself. One of the classmates taunted him by asking if the janitor, a Mexican man, was his father. Although the janitor had been friendly toward him, Rigoberto began to avoid him, not wanting to be associated with him. One day, another Latino student joined the class, and even though Rigoberto initially avoided him, too, the student approached him during study break and they become friendly. During the break, the janitor drove by and waved, and the new student enthusiastically waved back. Rigoberto was mortified and was about to tell the new student that “in ‘Honorsland’ [they] were united by [their] intellect, not by [their] class upbringing” (206). But before he could say anything, the new student said, proudly, “[t]hat’s my father” (206).

Rigoberto reflects on how he has no idea where his own father is and feels a pang of envy, thinking about how nice it must be to have a father whom one is happy to see and who can help their child when they’re in trouble.

Part 5 Analysis

Part 5 is entitled “Unpinned.” This title is a further reference to the metaphor of the butterfly that runs throughout Butterfly Boy. When butterflies are collected, they are pinned to a board for display. In Part 5, González becomes an “unpinned” butterfly, in the sense that he gains freedom from both his family and his lover.

In Chapter 16, González returns to his abusive lover. This reflects the way that González and his other family members continually return to people who have been abusive toward them, highlighting The Cyclical Nature of Violence in Relationships. He is re-enacting the model he has been taught since childhood. After a particularly violent episode with his lover, when González wakes up bruised and bloody, he attempts to reach out to his family without success. This could have potentially been a moment of despair for Rigoberto, but instead he treats it as a moment of liberation. He realizes, “I alone am responsible for myself in my journey into adulthood” (202). This is the moment of his “unpinning.” Rigoberto is free to walk away from the violent and volatile relationships that no longer serve him.

The final chapter of Butterfly Boy is a reflection on The Immigrant Experience and Migration and The Challenges of Family Dynamics. For Rigoberto, being an immigrant with a difficult family life has left him alienated from his schoolmates as well as other members of his immigrant community. When the Latino janitor at his high school seeks a connection with him, he rejects it for fear of being associated with him. Later, a new Latino student seeks a friendship with Rigoberto, and he is similarly wary. In his struggle to fit in, he has pushed away everyone. However, when it is revealed that the Latino student is in fact the janitor’s son, it becomes clear to Rigoberto that his experience is not the only possible one—that, in fact, there are other immigrant families that provide love, affection, and support to one another. In contrast, Rigoberto reflects that he has “no idea” where his father is at that moment. The memoir ends with no resolution and characterizes the subject with a sense of loneliness in contrast to this classmate.