La Maravilla - Major Themes

Major Themes

Motherhood is a prevalent theme in the novel. The character of Josephina becomes a mother figure to her grandson Beto, whose biological mother Lola has left Buckeye Road to become "Americanized." Lola accuses Josephina of trapping her as a teenager, neither talking to her about the realities of womanhood nor allowing her to go out with her friends on the weekends. Vernetta is a woman abandoned by her entire family. While her abusive father and brothers shun her for her involvement with a black man, it is her mother's desertion that hurts her most. The South American myth of "La Llorona" is relevant to the text in terms of motherhood, as well. The myth manifests itself in the novel through the mothers who emotionally harm their children (Josephina's emotional distance from Lola) and through the children who are troubled by their pasts (Lola's repressed memories erupting at the end of the novel). The theme of motherhood also exists within the realm of the land. The only Native American tribe unaffected by the loss of their "motherland" is the Yaqui because they were never forcibly removed it.

The socially marginalized writing from the underground is a relevant theme in the novel. Buckeye Road is an amalgamation of individuals and groups who exist on the periphery of American society. Until Boydeen begins to type, their voices sound only within the confines of this insular society. Through her character, who ceases to speak and disappears to the basement of the local convenience store after she kills her abusive boyfriend Hiawatha, the myriad voices of Buckeye Road are recorded; therefore they exist. She is the "recorder" of the events of Buckeye Road, and because of her documentation, their lives have a center.