Anzaldúa’s Mother Character Analysis in Borderlands / La Frontera

Like her father, Gloria Anzaldúa’s mother Amalia was a hardworking farm laborer who dreamt of a better life for her children. Anzaldúa recalls important details from her relationship with her mother throughout Borderlands—including her mother keeping a rose garden, warning her about snakes, covering all the mirrors in the house after her father’s death.

Anzaldúa’s Mother Character Timeline in Borderlands / La Frontera

The timeline below shows where the character Anzaldúa’s Mother appears in Borderlands / La Frontera. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Language, Storytelling, and Ritual Theme Icon

...epigraph from Silvio Rodríguez’s song “Sueño con serpientes” (“I Dream of Serpents”), Anzaldúa describes how her mother used to warn her to watch out for snakes when she used the outhouse. (full context)

Borders, Hybridity, and Identity Theme Icon

Enfrentamientos con el alma. Anzaldúa explains how, after her father’s death, her mother covered all the mirrors in the house. To native Mesoamericans, mirrors were a portal between... (full context)

...at a time, overwhelmed with anxiety and indecision, scratching her face until she bled while her mother worried. She looks at herself in the mirror and sees a new version of her... (full context)

History and the U.S.-Mexico Relationship Theme Icon

Looking at her mother ’s rose garden, Anzaldúa notes that Chicanos and Chicanas always grow things. She remembers planting,... (full context)

sus plumas el viento. This poem describes Anzaldúa’s mother , to whom it is dedicated, working in the fields. She discovers another Chicana woman,... (full context)

Cultures. Anzaldúa writes about how her mother used to send her to get an axe and dig rectangular plots in the yard,... (full context)