The Devil's Highway

Desolation is both a region and a state of being. Merriam-Webster’s definitions range from “A barren wasteland,” “A state of complete emptiness or destruction,” to “Anguished misery or loneliness.” The walkers have all experienced some form of desolation before embarking on their fatal journey. But once they are in the desert, they see how literal desolation can be. Desolation is similar to poverty in that it has many facets: emotional, intellectual, opportunistic, material and spiritual. 

The desert is so harsh that it is presided over by other, older Gods than those familiar to most in the west. Its Gods demand sacrifices. They are pitiless and vindictive. The punishments for venturing onto The Devil’s Highway are so severe that they look like retribution against the walkers. Throughout the book, this ties in with the theme of the complete otherness of the place. The difference between the old Gods and the new is so extreme that it makes the region of Desolation look more akin to something from an H.P. Lovecraft story than anything of this earth.

Diaz was the leader of a Spanish expedition in 1541. He was a fierce fighter and a valiant explorer. It is unclear whether he knew that he was near the most hellish stretch of desert he would ever encounter. However, he does not even get the chance to die from the elements. While trying to kill a dog with a lance, he manages to impale himself and dies. Even proximity to the Devil’s Highway seems to bring about bad luck and tragedy. Diaz in introduced in Chapter 1, but serves as a touchstone, reappearing in Chapter 9: “As Melchior Diaz once demonstrated, not only Mexicans die in the desert.”