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Mama Torres
Emilio and Rosy are Pepé’s younger siblings on the Torres farm; Emilio is a 12-year-old boy, and Rosy is a 14-year-old girl. Their main role in the story is to passively watch events unfold and comment on what’s happening as their older brother abruptly reaches manhood, but Emilio and Rosy also begin to show some development of their own. Emilio shows interest in someday becoming a man himself. He imagines his future self riding into Monterey as Pepé does, and he asks Rosy and Mama Torres constant questions about whether or not Pepé is a man yet, as well as what that entails. In this way, Emilio is framed as a possible continuation of the line of “real men” on the Torres farm, starting with his father and followed by Pepé. Emilio’s boyish attitude and curiosity about becoming a man continues even as Pepé comes home with a grimmer personality. Emilio’s innocence hasn’t yet been fully extinguished by his brother’s transformation, even though it’s been shaken somewhat. Rosy, meanwhile, seems to mature significantly when Pepé departs for the mountains. She stoically accepts that her brother is most likely never coming back, and she seems to think that this situation is an unavoidable part of his becoming a man. Her sudden sense of wisdom mirrors Mama Torres’s resigned and mature attitude concerning Pepé’s fate, implying that Rosy might someday become just like her mother. By floating the possibility that Emilio and Rosy might be destined to grow into the same roles their parents played, the story illustrates how the tragic cycle of the Torres family could continue indefinitely.
Emilio and Rosy Quotes in Flight
The Flight quotes below are all either spoken by Emilio and Rosy or refer to Emilio and Rosy. 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:
).
Flight
Quotes
Emilio said, “Some day I too will ride to Monterey for medicine. Did Pepé come to be a man today?”
Mama said wisely, “A boy gets to be a man when a man is needed. Remember this thing. I have known boys forty years old because there was no need for a man.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When the grey shape of Pepé melted into the hillside and disappeared, Mama relaxed. She began the high, whining keen of the death wail. “Our beautiful —our brave,” she cried. “Our protector, our son is gone.” Emilio and Rosy moaned beside her. “Our beautiful—our brave, he is gone.”
Rosy looked around at him. She drew her knowledge from the quiet air. “He has gone on a journey. He will never come back.”
“Is he dead? Do you think he is dead?”
Rosy looked back at the ocean again. A little steamer, drawing a line of smoke sat on the edge of the horizon. “He is not dead,” Rosy explained. “Not yet.”
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Emilio and Rosy Quotes in Flight
The Flight quotes below are all either spoken by Emilio and Rosy or refer to Emilio and Rosy. 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:
).
Flight
Quotes
Emilio said, “Some day I too will ride to Monterey for medicine. Did Pepé come to be a man today?”
Mama said wisely, “A boy gets to be a man when a man is needed. Remember this thing. I have known boys forty years old because there was no need for a man.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When the grey shape of Pepé melted into the hillside and disappeared, Mama relaxed. She began the high, whining keen of the death wail. “Our beautiful —our brave,” she cried. “Our protector, our son is gone.” Emilio and Rosy moaned beside her. “Our beautiful—our brave, he is gone.”
Rosy looked around at him. She drew her knowledge from the quiet air. “He has gone on a journey. He will never come back.”
“Is he dead? Do you think he is dead?”
Rosy looked back at the ocean again. A little steamer, drawing a line of smoke sat on the edge of the horizon. “He is not dead,” Rosy explained. “Not yet.”
