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Tita Ines
María is a maid and works for Tito Maning’s family. She doesn’t speak English or Tagalog, which causes Tito Maning to ridicule her to Jay and treat her rudely. Her skin is much darker than anyone in Tito Maning’s family as well. At first, Jay believes that María stole Jun’s letters to Jay on Tito Maning’s orders, and he can’t figure out how to communicate with her to get them back. Later, he discovers that María was not in fact the thief.
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María Character Timeline in Patron Saints of Nothing
The timeline below shows where the character María appears in Patron Saints of Nothing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Some Small Rebellion
...appear in any of the family photos. Jay sees a woman puttering around—it’s the maid, María. Tita Ami takes Jay on a tour, and Jay asks if he’ll see Tita Chato...
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...tossed all of his stuff, and whether they did it themselves or had Tomas and María do it.
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Every Single Surviving Word
...just stands there. Tito Maning wonders whether something is wrong with the food—he says that María is stupid and doesn’t speak Tagalog, but she’s a good cook. Jay claims his stomach...
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In the kitchen, María takes Jay’s plate, though Jay says he can wash it himself. But she doesn’t understand...
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Not an Answer to the Question
The following morning at sunrise, Jay is still awake. He realizes that María must have taken Jun’s letters, since she was the only one who wasn’t at dinner....
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Jay hears someone moving, so he heads downstairs and encounters María. He tries to tell her that he can’t find the letters that were in his...
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Suddenly, Jay remembers that María works for Tito Maning, so Tito Maning could have asked her to search Jay’s stuff....
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...anyone has seen them. Angel and Grace say no. Tita Ami says that she’ll ask María to search for the papers today. Tito Maning tells Jay that he should have kept...
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