How we cite our quotes: ("Abbreviated chapter name," page)
Quote #4
"Celia had been a tall woman, a head taller than most men, with a full bosom and slender, muscled legs. Soon she was a fragile pile of opaque bones, with yellowed nails and no monthly blood." ("Palmas Street," 36)
Celia's metamorphosis is extreme and complete, and proves that the power of the mind is greater than the will of the body.
Quote #5
"Lourdes considers herself lucky. Immigration has redefined her, and she is grateful. Unlike her husband, she welcomes her adopted language, its possibilities for reinvention...She wants no part of Cuba, no part of its wretched carnival floats creaking with lies, no part of Cuba at all, which Lourdes claims never possessed her." ("Grove," 73)
It seems that immigration has affected Lourdes' family in one of two ways—adaptation or destruction—but in either instance, the result is a fashioning of completely new identities for the characters in exile.
Quote #6
"My sister and I call our mother 'not-Mamá.' As in not-Mamá charred the chicken and is cursing in the kitchen. Not-Mamá is playing that record again, dancing by herself in the dark...She wants us to tell her we love her. When we don't, she looks right past us as if she could see another pair of girls just behind us, girls who will tell her what she wants to hear." ("Shells," 121)
Felicia's twin daughters have developed their own speech patterns, further isolating them from their mother's erratic behavior. In this case, they deny their relationship with their mother in an attempt to reshape their traumatic family experiences.