Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

El Líder; Lourdes

There's no question that for most of the characters in this book, Castro and his vision of Cuba are big bad wolves. Felicia may have sexual fantasies about him, but that's really only because the tropical heat and loneliness have fried her brain. In addition to the social and economic hardships brought on the country by his regime, El Líder also has a way of coming between members of this family: Felicia doesn't understand Celia's commitment to this fellow, Lourdes is utterly repulsed by it, and Pilar is trying to see both sides.

Aside from mythic leaders of state, we do have something of an antagonistic relationship with Lourdes. She's the oppressive mother figure, the one who wants to keep down our favorite heroine, Pilar. Lourdes is large and in charge, loud, embarrassing, overly patriotic and confrontational—pretty much every teenage girl's nightmare parent. It's not that Lourdes is entirely unsympathetic. We can see that she's acting from a place of deep and serious pain. But she really does make it hard to like her.