Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luisellia: Mobilizing Beautiful Prose Against an Ugly Cause

Activist writing can take form as anything ranging from poetry and song to investigative journalism and manifestos. Regardless of the format chosen, the ultimate aim remains consistent– to raise awareness, foster empathy, and inspire collective action for meaningful change.

However, achieving these objectives has become increasingly challenging in a society experiencing compassion fatigue. The constant stream of media saturated with sensationalized headlines detailing one tragedy after another, is undeniably draining. While the writing intends to spark outrage and extreme emotion to increase engagement, it ends up desensitizing us to the lived experiences of others. Thus, Americans choose to focus inward on the abundant personal dilemmas– unemployment, food insecurity, and debt to name a few. This further diminishes their capacity to empathize with others. This sentiment is particularly pronounced in discussions surrounding immigration where right-wing rhetoric illustrates the influx of immigrants as a threat to the privileges and opportunities entitled to American citizens. For example, a common narrative persists about “illegal immigrants taking jobs away from citizens.” In reality, undocumented immigrants are an essential component of the economy holding jobs that many citizens do not desire. As the migrant crisis has been ongoing for so long, the media coverage now overlooks the horrific experiences endured by individuals on their journey to America, where they are met with further trauma and hardship. The distance created between citizens and those trying to come to America further cripples real progress.

In Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luisellia, she brings to the forefront the humanitarian issue within immigration by telling the stories of children she encountered in her job as an interpreter. Luiselli herself transforms from a bystander to an activist in this role while she waits for her green card to arrive. She fulfills the three goals of activist writing through utilizing real stories, employing evocative and literary-like prose, and directly calling for action. 

Luisellia’s answers to the 40 questions with the stories of the actual people transitions the reader's understanding of immigration from a polarized issue to a humanitarian one. The integration of vivid stories are strategically contextualized with facts and historical context allowing the reader to transcend political affiliations so that they can understand what is truly at stake with the immigration controversy– lives. The underlying tone of anger is revealed to be the driving motivator to writing the book, “how do you explain that it is never inspiration that drives you to tell a story, but rather a combination of anger and clarity?” (24) This challenges the reader to confront the dissonance between the American ideal and the treatment of migrant children. 

The awareness of the harrowing experiences faced by immigrants is compounded, giving rise to moving empathy through the eloquent and evocative prose reminiscent of literary works. Luiselli's narrative vividly captures the haunting essence of these experiences, “And saying them is like pressing the button on a machine that produces nightmares. Even if they don’t have direct experience with the gangs, the threat lurks constantly, a monster under the bed or on the street corner…” (73). Luiselli’s work serves as an antidote to our compassion fatigue. 

After reading the book, the reader is compelled to take action. We become uncomfortable continuing in our privileged lives as we confront the stark reality of the consequences of denying individuals seeking a place in the United States. Luiselli brings people out of their stagnant state in the status quo by refusing to permit indifference or complacency as an option, “being aware of what is happening in our era and choosing to do nothing about it has become unacceptable.” (30) The purpose of activist writing is to create change. Whether it be at a micro level of changing the mind of a skeptic or at a macro level of changing policies, the writing is essential to societal progress.