Certified as important by its inclusion in the title, mesquite is a motif that parallels Lupita’s bildungsroman. A mesquite is stubborn, often ugly, and usually an unwelcome invader in a beautiful garden. But it is this very characterization that also makes a mesquite admirable. It’s a strong tree, one that endures and survives pruning and cutting. Lupita herself understands her close connection to the mesquite, as it is under the mesquite where she writes her poetry and grapples with her rapidly changing world. Without the mesquite, Lupita doesn’t have a grounding force to symbolize her own identity. The mesquite is always itself, and it doesn’t bend to any challenge. 

In Under the Mesquite, gardening is synonymous with raising a family. Mami and Papi devote themselves to their garden in the same diligent manner they bring up their children. The gardening motif is used in several ways. There is the garden that Mami and Papi build, a symbol of the new life they are creating for their children in Texas. Secondly, Lupita repeatedly uses the term “uprooted” to explain the trauma of moving. Gardening is both a literal story line in this story and a metaphorical one.