Major Themes
Anita struggles with the concept of love and other character's opinions of it. Ramirez has a very romantic sense of it, he explained that his grandma had been in love with two men and then saw his grandfather and instantly fell in love with only him. Anita calls Ramirez naive and yet is saddened when he flinched as she removed the Red Woman's Husband's heart. Lenora Evans and Anita have another talk about love and how it confines an individual's freedom. Anita seems scared of that, not exactly of sharing a living space but sharing parts of herself.
Also, Edward urges Anita in the beginning of the book to have a nice uncomplicated one-night stand with someone, even Bernando. Anita thinks about that from time to time, even thinking of Ramirez in that light but decides against it when being his girlfriend could compromise her status on the murder cases. Ramirez might be slightly sensitive as well, and Anita notes that maybe she's more attracted to people who aren't entirely human like herself. Anita has thought before that as much as Richard and Jean-Claude embrace and desire her for her somewhat humanity, she embraces their inhumanity.
Unlike the case in Blue Moon, Anita is secure in her Christian faith, especially when faced with characters that consider themselves gods, such as Itzpapalotl and the Red Woman's Husband. Her faith helps her resist and ultimately defeat the Red Woman's Husband, who needed his victims to believe themselves worthy sacrifices to him.
Read more about this topic: Obsidian Butterfly
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