Carmen

Carmen is a middle-aged woman of Cuban descent living in Miami, Florida. She left Cuba as a teenager after witnessing her mother, Dolores, kill her father, Daniel. Carmen’s late husband, Julio, was abusive towards her and their daughter, Jeanette. Carmen clearly still possesses residual anger towards Julio but does not communicate this to anyone else.

Carmen has not told anybody the reason why she left Cuba, allowing her family to think that the division between her and her mother is due to politics. She is reluctant to tell Jeanette anything about her heritage despite Jeanette’s forthright questioning. Although Carmen does eat at Cuban restaurants, she is otherwise removed from her background and is more concerned with presenting an outwardly American lifestyle.

Carmen loves her daughter, Jeanette, fiercely, but is unable to express this to her and the pair have a strained relationship as a result. Jeanette...