Lena

Character Analysis

Lena is drop dead gorgeous, and heads off to Greece for the summer to visit her grandparents. If there's a member of the Sisterhood who seems like she has it all, Lena's the one—but a closer look reveals plenty of cracks in her pretty façade. 

Beauty is Skin Deep 

No doubt about it, Lena is the pretty one of the group. Well actually, she is "stunning" (1.58)—with her "Mediterranean skin" and "shiny dark hair," Lena is so beautiful she gives "Carmen a stomach ache" (1.58). Unfortunately for Lena though, she's known for her beauty and not much else. 

It's always hard to not be recognized for who you are, but Lena is an introvert who has a hard time forming relationships with other people—and her looks just exacerbate this problem. It is like "her looks were fake bait, seeming to offer a bridge to people, which she couldn't easily cross" (4.11). In other words, because she's so easy on the eyes, people are comfortable assuming she doesn't have a whole lot going on upstairs—and since she's shy, she has a hard time asserting herself against this stereotype. 

Not Quite a Goddess 

She might be the "goddess of Aphrodite" (5.30), but Lena certainly is not the goddess of love—she doesn't need boys, and she certainly doesn't trust them. As far as Lena's concerned, boys only want girls—or at least her—for one thing, and all boys are the same; you trust them, then they go "in for the grope" (5.28). She can do without boys, thankyouverymuch. 

This would be fine and dandy—girl power, and all that jazz—except that Lena wishes she didn't feel the way she does. Why can't she be more like Bridget and Kostos? Despite their heartbreaks, they still remain "open to love" (18.67). Why is her heart so closed off? 

Lena finally opens up—after an entire summer, mind you—and finds the courage to tell Kostos how she feels. As luck would have it, he feels the same way, and they share a heavenly kiss. Bummer for both of them that it took Lena all summer to stop expecting the worst and give Kostos a chance. 

It's Greek to Me

Lena doesn't feel like she's a real Kaligaris. She doesn't speak Greek, and she isn't outgoing and like her sister, Effie—in fact, she isn't like "either of her parents or her sister" (21.106). And that she's gorgeous just makes her stand out more—she's the pretty shy girl from a family of big personalities and noses. While "Effie is a Kaligaris" (4.9), Lena isn't sure what she is. 

At first, meeting her grandparents just compounds Lena's anxiety. How can she get to know her grandfather if she can't speak his language? If only she were more like Effie—a true Kaligaris. Effie and their grandmother love cooking, eating, and socializing, but not Lena—she'd rather paint alone in peace and quiet 

But you know who else who likes quiet time? Bapi, her grandfather—and as time passes, Lena realizes that she looks and acts a lot like him. They share the same "characterless" nose, and at bedtime, they both look out their windows at the stars. The bond Lena forms with Bapi reassures her that she is a true Kaligaris—and when he takes her hand and tells her, "you're my girl" (24.29), Lena finally feels like she belongs. 

The thing is, that just like it takes Lena all summer to give Kostos a chance, so too does it take her a really long time to realize that she is similar to Bapi and, as such, a true blue Kaligaris. And just as Kostos has been around the whole time, Bapi has also—he's been sitting silently across the breakfast table from Lena each morning. She spends the summer so caught up in assuming he wishes she could speak Greek though, that it never occurs to her that he enjoys sitting with her in silence—just as she does with him. 

Sounds of Silence 

Okay—so Lena isn't a people person, or much for conversation. It's just not her thing. She wishes it were, though, at least partly because she worries that people write her off because she isn't more talkative. 

For instance, she wants to talk Bapi over breakfast so she doesn't disappoint him. What if Bapi, like other people, misinterprets her silence as her being "snotty" (17.15)? While Lena ends up realizing that she Bapi aren't the kind of people who are "comforted by conversation" (24.27)—and actually takes pride in the fact that she shares these qualities with her grandfather, who is "proud, silent, fearful" (21.106)—this is different from past experiences she's had. Otherwise she wouldn't worry about her grandfather thinking she's "snotty" in the first place. 

Just because Lena isn't one for words doesn't mean she shuns communication, though—she just feels more comfortable expressing her emotions through her paintings. So when she desperately needs to tell Kostos the truth, she uses her paintings as an apology, in hopes that by using "Lena-language" (20.6) he will sense the sincerity of her feelings. He does, which is just a reminder that she was oh-so-off with her initial assumptions about him. 

Lena and the Pants 

Poor Lena doesn't have a spontaneous bone in her body. Timid and reserved, she has never even "laughed out loud when she was alone" (8.47). When she finally finds the courage to be daring, it doesn't go so well—here we can think about Kostos stumbling upon Lena while she's skinny dipping. He sees her in all her glory, and the embarrassment she feels is unbearable. 

While it seems like Lena will never take a risk again, she does—all thanks to the Pants, of course, which give her the "attributes of her three best friends, and luckily bravery was one of them" (23.48). She faces her fears and opens her heart to Kostos, and this goes so well, that Lena ups the ante and makes one wild and spontaneous decision before summer ends: she takes a detour through Mexico on her way home from Greece. 

The letter Lena gets from Bridget worries her, and she decides that she needs to be there for her friend who is struggling, vulnerable, and lonely—and just like that, Lena heads off to Mexico. She's gone from spending the summer making assumptions about people and worrying about what they think of her, to taking charge of her relationship with one of her closest friends, and dropping everything to support her in her time of need. Way to come into your own, Lena.