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Dr. Castillo
Food and Hunger
Throughout I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, the teenage protagonist Julia Reyes struggles with an insatiable appetite for food. Because her family is poor—and because her parents are distracted by their overwhelming grief…
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Books
Whereas food represents Julia’s restlessness, ambition, and desire for more than she has in the present, books serve as a symbol of escapism throughout the novel. Julia reads books when she wants to zone out…
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Julia’s Quinceañera
The large, gaudy, and rather sad quinceañera party Julia’s Amá and Apá throw for her is a symbol of their desire to transform Julia into the “perfect Mexican daughter” they believe her deceased older sister…
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