“He came to meet her seeking the purity of nature he’d lost. He sought baptism in the fire of her original desire.”
Cerezita is recording this quote the moment before she meets Juan for the first time. The timing is significant. Cerezita is portrayed as an innocent and even holy figure. At times, she seems to possess a spiritual and moral insight with an authority far surpassing that of Juan, although he is the priest. Juan is drawn to Cerezita and, as this quote suggests, perhaps sees in her a purity that he has lost. Yet, for all her religious authority, Cerezita is very much human and wants to explore the world of desire and the flesh. These seemingly opposite desires draw Juan and Cerezita together.
“They lied to us, Lola. They thought we was too stupid to know the difference. They throw some dirt over a dump, put some casa de cartón on top of it y dice que it’s the 'American Dream.' Pues, this dream has turned to a pesadilla.”
The knowledge that the federal government built subsidized housing on top of a dumping site for pesticides infuriates Amparo—especially the idea that officials thought that immigrants would be too stupid to find out. The residents were sold the idea of the American Dream, of having their own home, but the reality has become a "pesadilla" or nightmare. The exposure to toxic waste has created a slew of severe health conditions that are killing residents.
“Mine’s got the best definition I bet in the world, unless there’s some other vegetable heads like me who survived this valley. Think about it, Padre. Imagine if your tongue and teeth and chin had to do the job of your hands.”
Cerezita uses humor to talk about her disability, calling herself a “vegetable head.” Yet she does not invite pity. Instead, she proudly talks about how she’s adapted to use her tongue, teeth, and chin in place of her hands. However, Cerezita’s humor masks the frustration she feels about her lack of autonomy and independence.
“Martyrs don’t survive ‘ama.”
Dolores tells Cerezita that she should not do anything, and that Dolores is supposed to do everything for her. Cerezita’s response in the quotation above has two meanings. On one hand, she is responding as a teenager to a mother who is being dramatic. Cerezita does not want Dolores to do everything for her. However, Dolores takes on this role and then guilts Cerezita about it, who tells her she is acting like a martyr. This quote can also be interpreted as foreshadowing Cerezita’s own death as a martyr. In fact, she repeats this line about martyrs not surviving several times in the play.
“We’ve always been lonely, ‘amá. You and me waiting for someone to come along and just talk to us with a little bit of kindness, to tell us how fine and pretty we are, to lie to our face.”
In a conversation with Dolores, Mario tells her they are actually quite alike. The two of them have always been lonely and searching for someone to treat them with a little bit of kindness. Mario knows that the men he sleeps with do not really care about him. Yet, even if they’re lying to him, Mario finds comfort, however fleeting. Dolores’s husband Arturo also spoke sweetly to her; Dolores believes he truly loved her and the family. Mario is more cynical about his father.
“A real man tiene brazos. Nos llaman braceros because we work and love with our arms. Because we ain’t afraid to lift a sack of potatoes, to defend our children, to put our arms around la waifa at night.”
Don Gilberto is talking to Juan about how Arturo left his family. He says that when a man leaves his family, he’s no longer a real man. Continuing, he says a real man has arms. Here, Moraga is playing with words by comparing the Spanish word for arm (brazo) with the term bracero, which refers to a program where Mexicans were brought over to do agricultural work in the United States. Don Gilberto speaks to the immigrant experience of Mexicans being brought over to the U.S. to do hard labor; he ties that work and his identity as a man to the physical body. Don Gilberto represents a different type of masculinity than Arturo: he supports his wife, works hard, and values family.
“I gotta find her killer. Put a face to him, a name, track him down and make him suffer the way we suffer. I want to kill him, ‘ama. I want to kill some…goddamn body!”
As Evalina is dying, Yolanda feels helpless to save her daughter. She’s furious that her daughter is essentially being murdered and no one is being held accountable. Evalina’s killers remain faceless given that a company, and more broadly speaking the agricultural industry at large, is responsible. The helicopters paid for by Arrowhead to monitor their fields are the only “face” the company shows. Yolanda yells up at them, wanting to make the parties responsible pay and suffer as she and her community are.
“Heroes and saints. That’s all we can really have for now. That’s all people want.”
After Amparo gets beaten by a policeman at the protest, Juan recounts the event to Cerezita. The quote above is her response. People in McLaughlin have suffered too much and are reaching a breaking point. They are searching for hope and liberation. Amparo and Cerezita represent two different paths toward change: direct political resistance and confrontation (hero) and offering oneself up as a saint to inspire hope and strength.
“Nobody’s dying should be invisible, Juan. Nobody’s.”
After Evalina dies, Cerezita and Juan are talking about hanging her body on a cross. Cerezita insists that “Nobody’s dying should be invisible, Juan. Nobody’s.” People in McLaughlin have been slowly dying at alarming rates and no one outside the community seems to notice or care. The lack of attention sends the message that the Chicano/a lives are of less value to the broader public and those in power. Cerezita’s emphasis that nobody’s death should be invisible is in defiance of this indifference. She insists that every life matters and as such every death is a tragedy that should hold equal weight.
“It wasn’t your body I wanted. It was mine. All I wanted was for you to make me feel like I had a body because, the fact is, I don’t. I was denied one…I miss myself. Is that so hard to understand?”
Cerezita is angry with Juan after their sexual encounter. Juan got wrapped up in his own pleasure and guilt, completely ignoring Cerezita’s needs. Cerezita explains to Juan that, for her, being kissed and touched was about getting to experience what it’s like to have a full body. Rarely in the play does Cerezita complain or lament her condition. However, here she voices the loss she feels at being denied a full body, something that was taken away from her by the toxic conditions Dolores was forced to work in. Her interaction with Juan was a chance to feel connected with that missing part of her, something she rarely gets to experience.
