Readers know that Maria is very religious, and that she prays often and cooks for the family. On page 7 readers learn that in her haste to keep the Catholic ritual of crossing herself, she mixes cooking and religion. "She breathed a prayer and crossed her forehead. The flour left white stains on her, the four points of the cross." Her life is not at all about her, but about the men in her family. And it seems she is a literary counterpoint to Ultima, who is spiritually as strong as Maria is faithful to Catholicism.

On page 50 it is clear that Tony will not depend on his mother's nurturing for a long period of time. "He will be all right,' Ultima said. 'The sons must leave the sides of their mothers,' she said almost sternly, and pulled my mother gently." And as the friendship between Tony and his...
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