The fashionable entertainment joints
The fashionable entertainment joints Luz and her boss visited symbolize class division in Denver. Luz and her boss spend nights in exclusive clubs where only the rich and influential people in society dine. Those who come to these fashionable clubs are wealthy businesspeople, doctors, and people who have excelled at their careers. Luz admits that sometimes she feels out of place whenever she visits the executive clubs with David because of her poverty status. Therefore, these elegant clubs represent Denver's class division between the rich and the poor.
Organized bigotry
The mobbing out of Luz's brother from town symbolizes organized bigotry in modern America. Despite the legislation and other human rights movements pushing for equal treatment of all people in America, there is systematic bigotry against minority groups. Luz's brother is a victim of systematic racism because the whites mob him out of the town to take up his place.
Light
Luz serves as a symbol of the perfect being. The author depicts Luz as a morally upright woman throughout her upbringing until the day she meets David in his office. David caresses her; she feels an irresistible sexual urge for the first time. Despite Luz’s sexual awakening moment, readers agree with the author that she has preserved her body for her entire life, which illustrates that she has been a perfect woman.
