The Wayward Bus

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to domestic abuse, sexualization of racial “otherness,” sexual assault, self-harm, and depression.

Juan Chicoy is one of the central characters in The Wayward Bus. He runs the bus service that operates out of Rebel Corners. He is bored of his life and his wife, Alice. He is homesick for the country of his childhood, Mexico. Juan’s appetite for other women is indicative of his dissatisfaction with life, despite its relative stability. Juan is bored and feels oppressed by his attachment to Alice, even though he also knows that her love for him is now a part of his identity: “It’s a structure and […] you can’t leave it without tearing off a piece of yourself. So if you want to remain whole you stay no matter how much you may dislike staying” (119-20). Juan thus represents People’s Resentful Dependence on One Another.

As the driver of the bus, Juan is the symbolic director of the path through waywardness. Juan’s life is in a rut, and he ironically directs the bus into a rut to free himself. Juan concocts a fantasy in which he’ll leave