"Is this an act of God or of Satan that brings you back to us, that has flown you up to the roof like a bird? Are you the devil’s messenger or a winged angel?"
Father Gerome yells at Lo Laca, when she resurrects after dying at the age of three. La Loca was the youngest daughter of Sofi and she died at a very early age. It was in her funeral that she became alive and the people became bewildered. Nobody could understand what has happened. La Loca got up in a moment and she was flying in the air. She reached the rooftop and claimed that she has visited paradise, purgatory and hell. According to La Loca, god himself lead her visit the places and she prayed for those who were left behind. Everyone was watching her astonishingly and she was uttering those words without any hesitation. Father Gerome yells at her and asks whether it's an act of god or devil which has brought her back to life.
“In high school, although a rebel, she was a Catholic heart and soul. In college, she had a romance with Marxism, but was still a Catholic. In graduate school, she was atheist and, in general, a cynic. Lately, she prayed to Grandmother Earth and Grandfather Sky. For good measure, however, she had been reading a flurry of self-help books.”
The narrator utters these words to describe the eldest daughter of Sofi. Esperanza struggled for her identity from her childhood to her teenage. She struggled more than her sisters to achieve a particular identity. The transformation from Christianity to atheism reflects her search for identity. She was finding her identity in a variety of religious and cultural structures. One thing that worked as a catalyst was her reading habits. She followed Catholicism until her college days but even after becoming an atheist she did not give up reading the self-help books. They guided her in achieving her identity and religion. She was also different from her other sisters because she used her failures to make her strong. Her breakup helped her in achieving her dream of becoming a journalist. She did up show cowardice like Caradid, instead she fought with her demons and eventually succeeded in becoming a better person.
"I had to produce the kinds of species that flies!"
Sofi narrates these words that she cannot submit to life after giving birth to four daughters. She says that people expect her to give up and live like a grandmother who would be looked after by her daughters. She would be visited by them on Sundays with their babies, but she is a strong woman with her own dreams and desires. She resists this notion by propagating the desire that she wanted to produce such species, who would fly. Later on, she assisted women in flying higher and she became the unofficial mayor of her community. She revolutionized the social and financial matters of the town. She also supported her daughters during their breakups and urged them to face hardships with fluctuating or falling prey to hopelessness. She defines life as a combination of wisdom and courage and asks her daughters to act in such a way.
