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Mamá
The antagonist of the novel, El Cero is a young man who makes his money as a pimp. He regularly targets young, vulnerable girls—some who are only nine or 10 years old—and as soon as they begin puberty, he dresses them in skimpy clothing and forces them to become sex workers, seeing foreign men at the local resort. Since Camino was 13, Papi has been paying El Cero to leave Camino alone. But Papi’s sudden death leaves Camino vulnerable, and El Cero begins stalking and threatening her. Camino manages to deflect El Cero’s advances until the night of Papi’s funeral, when El Cero catches her alone on the beach with thousands of dollars in cash and Yahaira’s passport. He attempts to rape her, but Yahaira, Mami, and Tía scare him away. Camino knows that on some level, El Cero became the monster he is today due to his grief for his sister, Emily, who died of dengue fever about nine years ago.
El Cero/Alejandro Quotes in Clap When You Land
The Clap When You Land quotes below are all either spoken by El Cero/Alejandro or refer to El Cero/Alejandro. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
To be from this barrio is to be made of this earth & clay:
dirt-packed, water-backed, third-world smacked:
they say, the soil beneath a country’s nail, they say.
I love my home. But it might be a sinkhole
trying to feast quicksand
mouth pried open; I hunger for stable ground,
somewhere else.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
[…] Before I learned to fear him,
there was one memory that kept coming back,
the one I cannot shake even as I shake when he approaches:
Cero has never appeared young to me. Always this same
age, this same face. But he would come to school
to pick Emily up. & she would stop
everything she was doing & run to him, arms spread wide.
He would catch her, swinging her in circles. & I was jealous.
Jealous I didn’t have a consistent male figure like Cero in my
life.
Chapter 7
Quotes
If you are not from an island,
you cannot understand
what it means to be of water:
to learn to curve around the bend,
to learn to rise with rain,
to learn to quench an outside thirst
while all the while
you grow shallow
until there is not one drop
left for you.
I know this is what Tía does not say.
Sand & soil & sinew & smiles:
all bartered. & who reaps? Who eats?
Not us. Not me.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
[…] & here we are: Tía like a bishop,
slashing her long machete. Mami, the knight with rims. My body
in front of my sister’s body: queens.
Papi, who I know is here too. He did
build that castle he always promised.
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Explanation and Analysis:
She grabs her purse & drives out.
There was so much I had left to say:
That maybe a bad husband can still be a good parent.
That maybe he tried to be the best he knew how to be.
That he hurt her got caught up there’s no excuse.
But he is not here. He is not here. We are all that’s left.
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El Cero/Alejandro Quotes in Clap When You Land
The Clap When You Land quotes below are all either spoken by El Cero/Alejandro or refer to El Cero/Alejandro. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
To be from this barrio is to be made of this earth & clay:
dirt-packed, water-backed, third-world smacked:
they say, the soil beneath a country’s nail, they say.
I love my home. But it might be a sinkhole
trying to feast quicksand
mouth pried open; I hunger for stable ground,
somewhere else.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3
Quotes
[…] Before I learned to fear him,
there was one memory that kept coming back,
the one I cannot shake even as I shake when he approaches:
Cero has never appeared young to me. Always this same
age, this same face. But he would come to school
to pick Emily up. & she would stop
everything she was doing & run to him, arms spread wide.
He would catch her, swinging her in circles. & I was jealous.
Jealous I didn’t have a consistent male figure like Cero in my
life.
Chapter 7
Quotes
If you are not from an island,
you cannot understand
what it means to be of water:
to learn to curve around the bend,
to learn to rise with rain,
to learn to quench an outside thirst
while all the while
you grow shallow
until there is not one drop
left for you.
I know this is what Tía does not say.
Sand & soil & sinew & smiles:
all bartered. & who reaps? Who eats?
Not us. Not me.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
[…] & here we are: Tía like a bishop,
slashing her long machete. Mami, the knight with rims. My body
in front of my sister’s body: queens.
Papi, who I know is here too. He did
build that castle he always promised.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
She grabs her purse & drives out.
There was so much I had left to say:
That maybe a bad husband can still be a good parent.
That maybe he tried to be the best he knew how to be.
That he hurt her got caught up there’s no excuse.
But he is not here. He is not here. We are all that’s left.
