The shoes
In the beginning of the novel, Carolina, a mother of three living in the slums of Sao Paulo, contemplates how she will get shoes for her young daughter. She finds some shoes in the trash and decides to wash them and use those instead. This symbolizes the way of life in this socio-economic class. She depends on happenstance and the mercies of fate for her survival. She has only a little more safety and provision than an animal would. She is desperately poor and tasked to provide for four people without any safe or socially acceptable ways to make money.
The struggling artist motif
She dreams of making money with her heart's passion, and although she sometimes worries it might be a pipe dream, she also feels sometimes that it could happen. She writes. As a writer, it is nearly impossible for her to determine the worth of her own writing because she cannot tell where her word choice might be naturally talented or potentially awkward. This makes her personal life confusing because she spends a lot of time writing, but it might be an ethical use of time if she is more talented than her chronic self-esteem issues allow her to see.
The patronizing patron
When she encounters her baby-daddy, he patronizes her with money. Never minding his own obligation to his family, to his neglected mate, to his first home, the one he left behind to live a fancy life without her or the kids, he gives her just enough to keep her coming back for more support later. He allows her to see his wealth and extravagant lifestyle, but he gives her very little so that he is commenting on her worth and his worth. He symbolizes the social brokenness caused by patriarchal assumptions and toxicity of character.
The daily question of food
The question of food arises every day. Some people know exactly what that is like, and some people are insulated from that fear by privilege. Anyone who has ever woken up on certain days without money or any hope of making money at a job can attest it is a discipline of true faith to get out of bed and hope for some good luck or something to befall you. The daily aspect of poverty makes this affliction into a chronic nightmare. As a mother, the pain is amplified by her motherly instinct to provide for a family in a place where there are no economic means to do so.
The letters to publishers
When Carolina decides to send letters to publishers, she accesses a new karmic potential. Now, although there is no guarantee whether fate will be kind or cruel, she can use hope to her advantage. Why should she continue on in a hopeless endeavor instead of giving up and dying? For two reasons, for her family, and for the hope of a better future. The letters to publishers are tools for creating hope in her life. She probably will get published because she decided to take that next step of faith toward making her dream a reality.
