I find it very fascinating how Marcia has already become comfortable with her sexual identity at such a young age. She does not hesitate to mention that she is attracted to girls, but it’s very important to take note of her reasons for doing so. Marcia wishes she were male, thinking it would give her the strength to overpower her father. There are only two things that Marcia ever wishes for: (1) to have her father go away and (2) to become male. It seems as if these two things are completely different but there actually is a connection between the violence she experiences at home and the sexual identity she discovers.
Marcia has a higher level of maturity than her mother. She is more concerned over being a good wife than being a good mother, and chooses to play a very passive role in the abuse the father has towards his daughters. This reminded me of the mother in Josie Mendez-Negrete’s “Las Hijas de Juan” because she also became a yield in the abuse of her daughters – at least, at first she did. The difference is that the mother in “Las Hijas de Juan” eventually stood up for her family, riding herself of her abusive husband. I found it very disappointing that Marcia’s mother was not able to do the same. I lost respect for her as a mother, even as a woman. I didn’t think it real, for a woman to be able to act this way. As I read through the novel, I figured it made sense for me not to believe that a person could act this way because, after all, I was reading a piece of fiction. Knowing that the text was a novel as opposed to an autobiography or an autoethnography definitely changed my perception of it. I looked at the violence as a literary tool utilized to further heighten the coming-of-age aspect of the story. The coming of age moment was indeed powerful, and it demonstrated Marcia to be a very strong character.