Sao Paolo, Brazil
The setting of this book is an important part of the book's concrete and abstract imagery. The question for readers who are not from Brazil will be to consider various aspects of life that might be different than what life looks like to people in other parts of the world. This is why it is important that Carolina Maria de Jesus takes time to explore the setting of her memoir in detail, because as she explains her lifestyle and daily external reality, she educates her reader about how difficult life can really be in the slums of Sao Paolo.
Disenfranchisement and gender
The social construct that is abstracted among Carolina's community is defined by the various ways that people are treated with respect to gender. Men are generally accepted and fairly suitable to get occasional jobs where they can be easily enfranchised to at least make a living for themselves. But, women are considered like slaves for the home, so now that Carolina already has children and is not as desirable as other women for marriage, she is tasked to make a survival for herself and three growing children without any money or any way of making money.
Maternal imagery and sacrifice
The imagery of motherhood is undeniably tied to the concrete depictions of Carolina's self-sacrifice through the book. By sacrificing her pride, she enables herself to make the best of any situation, not thinking herself above using shoes for her family that she found in the trash, not being too proud to accept help from a rude and offensive man who humiliates her before giving her paltry allowances. Carolina sacrifices that pride and her own health, often not eating so that her children can eat. This depiction of motherhood is transcendental in implication.
Passion and hope
Instead of forming a normal connection between passion and hope, this novel shows something more visceral and pain-oriented. Carolina uses her passion as a tool for manufacturing hope for herself that she can use as fuel to continue in the gruel of her painful life. The hope she attains is symbolic because it might come to fruition, but even if it doesn't, Carolina is obviously healthiest when she is taking next steps with her artwork. By messaging publishers with samples of her craft, she deliberately creates hope for a better future while sustaining herself in the present.
