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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Summer of the Mariposas, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sisterhood, Motherhood, and Family
Magic, Myth, and Deception
Gender Dynamics and Female Solidarity
Kindness, Mercy, and Morality
Ancestral and Cultural Appreciation
Summary
Analysis
Teresita and her husband send the girls off with supplies and a map of the area, saying they should be able to reach Abuelita’s house by nightfall. Once on the road, the bickering starts up again, until Odilia forces the sisters to walk separately in pairs. They come upon a lame donkey harnessed to a cart, which delights Pita. Pita’s claim that the donkey can talk—he tells her his name is Charrito and that he can lead them to Abuelita’s house—raises Odilia’s suspicion, as she remembers La Llorona’s warning and Teresita’s premonitions about the dangers waiting for them.
Like Odysseus, the Garza girls leave the seer’s house with greater knowledge of what lies ahead. Still, the sisters’ constant arguing and division suggest they are not as united as Teresita instructed them to be. The donkey’s sudden appearance and apparent ability to speak (though only to Pita) is immediately suspicious, suggesting more deception is afoot.
Themes
Velia jumps into the donkey’s wagon, grateful to stop walking. Juanita follows suit, feeling they should take advantage of better transport even if Pita has gone crazy. Odilia tries to stop her sisters, questioning where the donkey came from and suggesting he might be the nagual in disguise, like Teresita said. Juanita dismisses the old woman’s warnings, but Odilia protests, saying they have entered a different world. Despite her efforts, Odilia’s sisters pile into the wagon and the donkey plods up the road in the correct direction, with Odilia walking quickly to keep up.
Despite the donkey’s strangeness, only Odilia thinks it unwise to accept his help. Even though all the Garzas have experienced Cecilia’s magical deception, they dismiss the idea that this might be the nagual who Teresita claimed would come in disguise. Here, the younger sisters display their continued immaturity, indicating there is still much they have to learn. Additionally, their lack of unity indicates that trouble is close by.
Themes
The girls in the wagon eat some of their provisions while Odilia struggles to keep up with the wagon. At a small creek, the donkey pulls off the trail and stops before suddenly bolting across a field, dragging the wagon behind him. Fearing that this is the nagual Teresita mentioned, Odilia races after them, trying to remember what kind of song will defeat him. Finally, the donkey slows near the entrance to a small cave. Odilia warns her sisters not to go in, but Pita declares that Charrito says it is a good cave where they can rest for the night. Without the sisters noticing it, dark has fallen.
The donkey leads the girls off course, illustrating the consequences of their in-fighting and disunity. Pita’s continued allegiance to the donkey—despite his strange and suspicious behavior—implies that she is under some kind of magical influence, especially since she is the only one communicating with him. That dark has fallen while the sisters were distracted amplifies this scene’s ominous atmosphere.
Themes
While the girls argue about whether to stay in the cave or look for the barn Teresita’s husband mentioned, the donkey speaks in a deep voice, exhorting them to listen to Pita. Odilia shouts that he is the nagual and tries to rally her sisters to run away. The donkey begins to chant a spell. Pita resists Odilia’s directives, still believing the donkey intends to help them. Odilia calls her childish. The sun sets and the nagual’s chant makes the girls lightheaded. They pass out just as he shifts back into his human form, looming over them.
With an eerie suddenness, the donkey lifts his veil of illusion, too late for the girls to do anything. This moment again illustrates the direct consequences of the sisters’ lack of teamwork—because they would not listen to one another, they have fallen into the nagual’s grasp. Odilia labels Pita’s faith in the donkey childish, pointing out that immaturity can make one gullible, while also implying that it is wiser to be suspicious.
Themes
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