A particular effective use of point-of-view in the film regarding America is manifest in how America is first seen by the main characters. America is not a place of beauty but the tunnel the brother and sister must crawl through get across the border. The tunnel is crawling with rats and Enrique and Rosa must crawl like rates to escape. They are reduced, rather than elevated by their quest to be in America. They scuttle in fear, just as their migration began with a love for America, but fear after government troops attack, as Rosa her brother are forced to flee north, away from their beloved homeland. When they emerge from the tunnel, Los Angeles looks harsh, foreign, and brilliantly lit, in contrast to the natural tones of their home.

The tunnel to freedom will eventually spell their downfall -- Rosa catches typhus from the rat bites and dies. Enrique is...

Enrique tries to learn English and to better himself but his love for his sister causes him to find himself in a dead end job, working as a day laborer for an exploitative system, just like his father. Enrique's character -- his loyalty, his love for his family, and his sense of personal honor is particularly damning in the film's critique of the American system. Because he refuses to leave his sister and go away to a better job, he loses all ability to advance his life altogether, and not only does he fail to nurse her back to health, but loses his one, final opportunity to escape the fate of his father.
Works Cited

El Norte." Directed by Gregory Nava. 1983.