The importance of hills is quite apparent in Gods Go Begging. One of the hills with great recognition is the Potrero Hill in San Francisco. Known for its poor neighborhoods contributing to large gang activity and overall violence, Potrero Hill has great significance for the author, Alfredo Vea Jr. In the attached article, it states, “Vea lived on Potrero hill and represented young people from the nearby housing project against drug and weapons charges” as his time spent as a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco. Vea drew many similarities from his time spent in the Vietnam War to his life in San Francisco. The article states, “the drug dealers communicated by code language, as Vea did as a radio operator in Vietnam.” Vea related the soldiers of Vietnam, often young in age, to the juveniles in Potrero Hill involved in the drug wars of the 1980s and 1990s. And this is due to the fact that he was among these juveniles.
Furthermore, even the geography of the hill reminded him of the jungles of Vietnam. The article says, “The grassy hilltop where the Potrero Hill housing project sits even came to remind him of the hill on the Laotian border where 600 American troops were dropped by helicopter to protect a radio installation against 3,500 north Vietnamese regulars.” Adding to the similarities, the unpredictability of combat and the sense of mystery add to both locations. In regards to Vietnam, Vea states how “nothing happened for three days and then for three days, nothing didn’t happen. Then after three more days, they went away.” On Potrero Hill, Vea never knows what could happen. Potrero hill is like another combat zone with drug violence and gang shootings that seem to occur on a daily basis. This unpredictability adds to the elements of the gothic.
What I also found interesting was that usually hills are used as a haven. They are an escape from the cruel world. They serve as a gateway to heaven since they appear to be so close to the sky. Yet, in Gods Go Begging, there is the exact opposite affect. It is a prison to those that enter because as we discussed, those that come in do not leave. It triggers tragedies that people have tried to repress. The hills in Gods Go Begging are not gateways to heaven but gateways to the deepest hell the mind can conceive.
What is interesting about the hill, and all the hills within “Gods Go Begging” is the fact that these hills are places of danger or pain, whereas hills are usually sought after points in battle. When one force holds a hill, they have the high ground, which gives them an advantage in battle in that an opposing force must charge upward in order to assault the hill. The force that controls the hill can fire downward on the attacking force with less casualties.
However, the hills in “Gods Go Begging” are never areas that the main character wishes to go to; this may be because they are never areas he can defend, but rather ones he needs to “assault.” While hills are desired positions in battle, their desirability also makes them places of bloodshed, as numerous forces will compete to control this advantageous spot. Therefore, the hills back in San Francisco, such as Portrero Hill, can be seen as emblematic of this struggle and this blood shed.
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As the characters live on these hills, their lives become demonstrative of this struggle for survival. Each character slowly starts to break down and refuses to spend more time on the hill. This then demonstrates how the struggle for control and advantage in war can lead to some of the fiercest bloodshed, as well as the stress on the psyche this creates. By forcing the characters to stay on the hill in Vietnam, and then to return to Portrero hill, Vea ensures that characters have to relive their most difficult moments. This is an inspired use of geography; hills would hardly ever be considered terrifying, but if one looks at them from the perspective of a soldier, they can be seen as a graveyard where men continually struggle for power.