Grief

The novel explores grief as both a necessary and potentially destructive force. Grief is one of the primary emotional modes of the novel, in large part because Rufina and Rafa’s grief for their mother is a narrative and thematic centerpiece. As the narration states in the first chapter, “It had been four months since they covered their mother, Rosalinda…in a blanket of mums and carried her away to be burned…coyotes split the quiet with their crying” (5). Rufina and Rafa struggle not only with their individual experiences of grief, but also their attempts to support each other through this process. The novel presents grief as an inevitable and healthy process following the death of a loved one, but the narrative also acknowledges that grief can be dangerous if a person allows it to overwhelm them.

Additionally, the novel acknowledges how a person might not...