All that conniving was the devil’s work, who’d ever known a girl that cunning, where else could she get it from…
-- Narrator (II)

Importance: As the townspeople first come to know the Witch through her help with her mother’s moneylending business, they immediately find ways to identify her as a sinister, witch-like woman. Like the townspeople’s judgements of her mother, this judgement of the Witch ties back to the novel’s themes on sex and gender. As women are expected to act in passive roles, the Witch is demonized for having the skill to take authority over her mother’s business. Other women, like Yesenia and Norma, remain in their homes to care for their families. So to the people of La Matosa, the Witch should not be leaving her home to work a job that requires a certain level of skill and competence. Her cunning is associated with...