Ultimately, the question of this novel is whether despair is appropriate for Jessica following her amputation. The answer to that question is that, yes, very much it is appropriate for Jessica to feel extreme emotions: she lost an avenue of excellence in her life which helped her feel proud of herself, and she lost her leg, changing her life in elaborate, permanent, painful ways. However, Rosa shows that life is still good for the differently abled.
The novel moves from a simple narrative about excellence and sacrifice and honor (Jessica is such a hard-working, excellent athlete!) to a narrative with more depth and openness to human suffering. Rosa has an ailment from birth, a chronically painful palsy that keeps her permanently wheelchair bound. Her involvement in the plot is enough to make the reader ask, "Is Rosa's life really worse than Jessica's life when she had legs?"
The answer is that simple approaches will not suffice. These kinds of elemental comparisons are nothing more than competition for blessing or something of that kind. The true reality of the situation though, is that human nature is more resilient than humans often believe, and more importantly, that suffering and tragedy are elemental aspects of human life, and that real pain is a part of learning to understand people with different journeys.
