Fiction acts as a mirror or reflection of society, and reading it helps us understand commonly held notions, and ideals of the times. While this book is indeed a bit tedious and frustrating at times, Who Would Have Though It does help us get a clear illustration of history and societal values of the time.
Through reading this book, we come to understand stigmas of race, nationality, and religion that existed in the times that it was written. Interestingly, while these stigmas have evolved and changed over time, they still exist it different forms today. While the issues are today presented in different terms, having grown up in California, it is very obvious that great prejudice of Latin Americans are still quite prevalent.
In class we discussed the idea of Mexicans not crossing the border but the border crossing them. I think the idea of fluidity of geography between the New World, the Old World, and national boundaries within these regions is a theme that is well illustrated within this novel.
All in all, because this book is a tedious read, I think it is important to try and keep in a historical context.