Character Clues

Character Analysis

Clothing

We're not saying clothing makes the man when it comes to Manny and his clan, but we are saying that clothing provides some useful character clues in this book. So when we see Magda sporting a super short skirt that Mom disapproves of, we know she cares more about impressing some boy than she does her mother, and when Nardo does his best to spend all day lifting weights and looking in the mirror, it's clear he's a pretty vain bloke.

Perhaps the time that clothing is most telling, though, is when it comes to characters and their shoes. Manny's, for instance, barely even fit him. They're hand-me-downs from his dad, which lets us in on an important key to understanding him: He's poor. Like, really poor. So much so that he wears shoes that used to be somebody else's and that don't even fit.

And then check out Mom's feet—sometimes she's sporting some of dad's old boots. And they actually come in pretty handy. Check it out:

She began slapping the mop wildly on the floor, shuffling around in my dad's old hightop boots, the ones with the buckles torn out and tongues wagging. Most of the time she mopped the floor barefoot, since her feet had enough calluses to step on my dad's cigarette butts without making her wince, but that day it was too cold. (9.4)

This mama is one resourceful (and tough—cigarette butts don't break her stride) lady. So when it's cold outside and Mom needs something on her feet, she whips out Dad's old clunkers. They may not be stylish, but she doesn't care; they get the job done, which is all she's looking for.

Family Life

When it comes to family life, we've got some ups and downs in this tale. And with each high and low, we learn a little more about our characters. Look at how much we learn about Manny's dad because of how he treats his family (you can be that it's not always pretty). Or how we see Manny's compassion because of the way he treats his sibs (or, lets be honest, almost shoots one of them). We dig deep into how these familial relationships reveal character over in the "Characters" section, though, so click on over there for more.

Occupation

Some of our characters, like Manny, take on a bunch of jobs by choice. This guy wants to work hard, whether it's picking chili peppers or delivering medicine. But then others, like Nardo, go through loads of jobs because, well, he'd rather not work too hard if he can help it. And with all these different attitudes toward having a job, a character's occupation can tell us a ton about whether they're a hard worker… or not. As with family life, though, we dig deeper into this in the "Characters" section, so be sure to check it out.