The irony of the mother
Reyna Grande's story begins one might say with the discovery that her mother is more than she expected. To young Reyna, she believed her mother was a hero, as every child feels. Then, when her mother leaves one day to go north and work to help support the family, suddenly the mother enters into some dramatic irony. What is she really doing up north? Who is she really? When she comes back from America, she has both not done what she said, and she has become increasingly manic and unpredictable.
The dramatic father
The father is similar to the ironic mother but a little different. When the memoir begins, he is already in America. The time that passes with him gone makes the children forgetful about him, but then one day he calls, and his return to Mexico catches them with the full surprise of irony. He decides to take them with him across the border, but they fail twice before finally making it to California. In California, the dramatic irony concealing his character becomes a source of major anguish for Reyna; secretly he is mean and capricious and often very abusive.
Life past the border
As mentioned, the border represents a threshold to the children. That is where there parents go, or are allowed to go, while the children have to stay behind in their known world. Their known world is shaped by a lack of access of opportunity, a frustrating relationship to their family, a low reputation because of their poverty, and their poverty. What is unknown is America, and although they do not know how hard it would be to make it there, Reyna wonders whether it might be better to try it. This becomes a serious crisis when they decide to cross the border; there the full weight of the unknown hits her.
The competition of siblings
There is a situational irony which is heartbreaking but unfortunately very common. In situations of emotional abuse or neglect, love and attention are a limited currency, and with a limited supply, the children become competitive. Ironically, Reyna's father seems to pit the girls against one another almost on purpose. This might remind the reader of Reyna's unnecessary competition with Elida; the approval of a capricious grandmother turned Elida in an ego maniac, but it is still evidence of adult neglect and abuse. Ironically, the children who have the most in common have the hardest time being in community with each other.
Success and perspective
The irony of this book is that the story is not a sad story but a happy one. Because the author writes this story from the position of success, the negative and frustrated tone and subject matter are not obstacles at all. Rather, the story captures a sense of dispair about whether Reyna could or would still live a healthy, happy life, and she feels that confusion throughout the whole story, but in the end she becomes the famous author who wrote this memoir. So then, a question is answered; hope was always the appropriate path, because the future contained healing and a full manifestation of her potential.
