Rating characters can be difficult but after much thought
here are my ratings.
10-Mama Chona: As the matriarchal figure of the Angel family
she raised or affected all the Angels. She is the root of their cultural
schizophrenia because she is both Mexican and American condemning Mexicans who
cannot speak “proper Spanish”, are dark skinned, and “uncivilized” (she harbors
internalized racism). She also internalizes sexism because she does not condemn
Miguel Grande for cheating on Juanita with Lola. She is never willing to bring up anything
terrible and assumes that everything in life is fine. She is deeply colonized
and inflicts the colonized mindset on her children and their children.
9-Miguel Grande: He is homophobic, sexist, and racist. He is
stuck between being an All-American heterosexual macho man and loving his
homosexual brother Felix. He sleeps around with women betraying Juanita’s trust
and cannot separate himself from her best friend. He is not willing to accept
their influence on him and continues to play them because he does not want to
let go of either one of them. When Juanita is not offended by his cheating he
runs to Lola to see if he still has a hold on a woman. He butts heads with Mama
Chona often because they are very similar. Being a cop he also encourages us
vs. them mentality and he believes he has fulfilled the American Dream as a
Mexican. However, he is racist because he criticizes Maria for being an
ignorant Mexican woman.
8-Miguel Chico: Despite his education, he is definitely
culturally schizophrenic because he shuns Maria for being an ignorant Mexican
woman (internalized racism). He hardly visits his family because he they are
not educated. His cousins do not respect him because they know Miguel Chico
thinks he is better than them. He is the only one that left his family behind.
Despite his removal he is still connected to them especially when he
internalizes Mama Chona’s superiority complex.
7-Juanita: She harbors internalized racism and internalized
sexism. She tells Nina that she is going to be another uneducated Mexican if
she doesn’t bother to learn more. She also encourages Miguel Grande to cheat on
her when she finds out about Lola. Her inability to feel sexually secure means
she has low self-esteem. She lets Miguel Grande step all over her and stands by
his side no matter what. She never has anything bad to say about Lola either.
She is the embodiment of a “good” wife and friend.
6-Felix: He never comes out of the closet even though he is
willing to have sex with men. He is split between promoting a
hetereopatriarchal relationship to satisfy his family and giving into his true
desires that will be condemned by his family. He also internalizes racism when
he calls some of his employees “wetbacks”.
5-Angie: She is proud to be Mexican and does not care what
the Angel family thinks about her. She paints the walls in the house bright
colors as her symbol of her defiance. However, she suffers from linguistic
terrorism when she talks to Lena’s piano teacher. Also, her children and Felix
make fun of how she speaks Spanish.
4-Nina: She harbors internalized racism because she forces
her children to speak only English. She reproduces a cycle of violence with her
children. However, she looks out for sister and does not care about Juanita
being a good wife if it hurts her.
3-Lola: She shows signs of homophobia when she pokes fun at
Miguel Grande by hinting that he is truly queer. However, she controls her
sexuality and is able to manipulate Miguel Grande.
2-JoEL: He does not necessarily harbor internalized racism,
homophobia, etc. but he does suffer after his father dies. He does make fun of
how Angie speaks so he gets a 2 on the scale.
1-Lena: She is the only character that calls out the whole
family for their shortcomings and is conscious of how the world is unjust.
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