Genre
Social and political fiction
Setting and Context
Tome in New Mexico in the 1990s.
Narrator and Point of View
An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator tells the story.
Tone and Mood
The tone is dramatic and tense; the mood is uncertain and powerful.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Sofi is the protagonist; Domingo is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the novel occurs when Sofi marries her love Domingo and they have four daughters together.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when Sofi leaves her husband, Domingo, after she realizes how much he is gambling his life away.
Foreshadowing
The fact that Sofi has to raise her daughters on her own is foreshadowed by her leaving her husband behind.
Understatement
The role of parental matters of the lives of children is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the need to escape our trauma, and to seek a happy life.
Imagery
The imagery of the mysterious La Loca is present in the novel.
Paradox
The fact that Domingo is meant to be the responsible person of the family, yet is never present is an example of paradox in the story.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the life that Sofi wishes to have so much and the life that has sister has already.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
