Political Activism
Not only does Carolina dedicate most of her spare time to government affairs but she encounters a lot of people who share her interest in political involvement. Carolina is an advocate for people in her community because she bothers to voice her concerns. Giving her time and effort, she is involved in several campaigns and even visits Congress at some point. Throughout the book, Carolina also seems to run into folks who share her passion, although she has a knack for drawing opinion out of the people she meets. One striking instance is when she asks the people on the bus next ot her what they think about Dr. Adhemar, a local politician who has complicated public transportation.
Paranoia
Carolina seems to be especially susceptible to paranoia because she's naive. Whichever thought enters her head first, she believes. This leads to a great deal of trouble when dealing with her children who are accused of all sorts of things by the neighbors. Carolina is forced to criticize her own thought process in order to do right by her kids. She indulges in other areas of her life, however, such as her political activism. Doubtless a product of her environment, she considers the individual members of the government to be hateful people who intentionally try to hurt the impoverished. Although this must not be accurate, she has convinced herself beyond the shadow of a doubt that people such as Dr. Adhemar are evil and trying to punish the lower class. In addition to Carolina's paranoia, her neighbors all seem to entertain suspicion an awful lot. They are all struggling to get by, so they often must compete with one another to eat that night. Understandably they all have reason to believe the worst about their neighbors, often giving those suspicions voice in the form of accusations. This is why reputation becomes so important for people living in the favela.
Poverty
Pretty much all aspects of Carolina's life are hurt by poverty. Living in a favela -- ghetto -- she and her kids are surrounded by filth and disease. They have to be extra cautious not to become sick because they don't have money for or access to healthcare. For food, Carolina picks up scraps and sells them for cheap or trades them for provisions. It's a lonely world to live in since the neighbors aren't friendly. Everyone is struggling to survive, constantly living in fear, so they cannot afford to trust the people around them. This leads to a very competitive and often delicate social environment. Carolina even gets to the point where she wishes Vera's father would just take her away and raise her in order to spare the girl the hardship of growing up in the favela.
