The Marquesa, “The Vine-Leaf”
The Marquesa is perhaps the prototypical character in a short story by Mena. All of the major themes which the author routinely explores are centered upon her in this story: empowerment of women, the presentation of the physical self, taking control over economic anxieties. The story is about the Marquesa’s desire to remove a birthmark even though it is not in a place where it can be seen for routine public consumption. She reasons behind her desire for the removal as where the thematic threads all meet and tied together.
Petra, “The Gold Vanity Set”
If the Marquesa is not the prototypical heroine, then the honor would likely go to Petra. “The Gold Vanity Set” covers much of the same thematic ground, but from a much a much different perspective and in a much different way. It is Petra’s discovery of the titular cosmetics which has been left behind by an American tourist which is the mechanism of her own empowerment against the oppression of a husband and capitalism as represented by the owner of the vanity who returns with certain expectations the young peasant woman is not inclined to meet.
Alicia Cherry, “The Education of Popo”
Alicia Cherry represents a significant departure from the Marquesa and Petra. She is the ugly American who happens to be strikingly beautiful, leaving young Popo little opportunity to do anything other than fall under her spell. But Alicia’s blonde hair masks the black roots beneath and her effervescent charm masks the black heart inside. She is ultimately rendered a symbol of American imperialism and capitalist domination of not just Mexican culture, but all underprivileged foreign cultures who are seen to exist solely for what they can produce for Americans to buy.
John, “John of God, the Water-Carrier”
The unusual situation of a male as the protagonist probably has much to do with this being the author’s very first short story. It is a kind of update of Cain and Abel in which John of God moves to Mexico City to take on the job of carrying water to the wealthy only to have this plan upended by competition from his own brother, Tiburcio. Ultimately, though focusing on men instead of women, the story pursues some of the same themes as the above examples as Tiburcio become the symbol of capitalist infestation and John of God pursues empowerment and economic independence through the rejection of worldly pursuits.
Ernestina, “Marriage by Miracle”
The obsessive theme of presentation of the physical self reaches it apex in this story in which the homely Ernestina must be married off first in order that her beautiful younger sister Claria can marry very, very well. In order to pull off this seemingly impossible chronological necessity, the appropriately named Ernestina submits to her mother’s wish that she undergo exciting new plastic surgery techniques introduced by an American doctor. The result of the surgery is the physical inability of Ernestina to produce a smile. Her concerns are addressed by being informed that this is the current style of what is regarded as the height of Anglo beauty.
