Reaching Out

“Ever since I was four years old, I felt fear whenever I saw anyone wearing a green uniform,” the author declares. This refers to the time when Frank and his family were in the U.S. illegally and had to hide from la migra, the border patrol guards who wore green uniforms. Eventually la migra caught and deported the family. Even after they entered legally, Frank’s fear of green uniforms remains.

The green uniform symbolizes Frank’s apprehensiveness about his family’s illegal past. This fear is not fully exorcized until he confesses it to Laura and Father Shanks and obtains U.S. citizenship. But before then, Frank finds himself having to wear a green uniform as part of ROTC duties at college. This helps him get over his fear of green uniforms. Frank’s father goes so far as to praise him when seeing a picture of him wearing the uniform. Thus, the uniform also symbolizes the idea that our fears can be exorcized and transformed. 

During their meeting, Mrs. Hancock gifts Frank with a fine pinstriped suit of her husband’s. When Frank brings the suit home, he realizes to his dismay that it is too big for him. The chapter title, “It Didn’t Fit,” suggests that the suit has symbolic meaning.