who is Clarisa

In "The Auroras," Clarisa is a local woman who takes in Hernán, the story's protagonist, when he arrives in the port city in which the story takes place. When Hernán first meets her, she is lonely and has a voracious sexual appetite. She co-owns a boutique downtown with a friend, and her husband Josué -- like many of the city's men -- is away at sea for most of the story. She exerts a quiet control over Hernán, and at the end of the story it is revealed that she has been charging her friends money for his sexual services. Even when her husband returns, they continue to house Hernán and profit from him.