Understanding Gary Soto’s “Mexicans Begin Jogging”

At this point, the reader makes the obvious connection between the speaker and the author’s name. “Over the fence Soto” (line 6) his boss shouts. He is no longer trapped in that formidable dwelling that he called home for so long. The reader can almost see him standing there, absorbing his surroundings, reflecting on all the events that had brought him to this point. Life is short and time is momentary, and the speaker decides to make the most of the time he has. unt rolls on, the author reveals his words in such a way that fuse the reader into the passage.

The speaker’s thoughts and reflections are excitedly reminiscent of times and emotions he has never compassed. “Until the border patrol opened, their vans and my boss waved for us to run” (lines 4-5). In his perspective on the figure a poem makes, Robert Frost explains, “It begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life – not necessarily a great clarification… but in a momentary stay against confusion” (794). Could they in fact be one in the same?

At this point in the narrative, the attitude of the speaker changes. The speaker is amongst men seeking freedom, an element so famed that they are willing to risk all that they have to achieve it.

The demeanor of the author as he runs through the streets is exceptionally inspiring to the reader, portraying a man who has come full circle, lived through hardships, and is now on the threshold of a new actuality.

Strong imagery is used in the opening stanza to illustrate a sense of urgency and surrounding. The use of carpe diem is almost apparent in every line of the passage.