Johnston Final Post

It may be one of the more obvious themes, but to me it seemed like the theme that was expressed most strongly and most often in the book "The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera" was the idea that if you continue to persevere through everything, you can survive and come out not necessarily ahead, but still alive. More than a few times in the book, Juan seemed to be close to giving up. In Chapter 11, starting on page 92, it's obvious that he is fully ready for death. His readiness for death is mentioned again in Chapter 15, on page 131 and the top of 132. However, he perseveres, and eventually makes it across the ocean to the United States.

There might seem to be a couple points to be made that suggest that a theme of perseverance actually wasn't the author's main goal: after all, only one of the three men made it. Were they simply less lucky? That kind of sends a different message than, "If you persevere, you'll make it." But I still think that the main theme is perseverance: Andres simply did not attempt to make it all the way across, instead choosing to give his life to possibly improve his friends' chances of making it; Raul just has bad luck when he is killed by the shark. I think that it's obvious that the main theme of "The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera" is perseverance.