SOURCE: Southerland, Stacy. “Subverting the Silence of Desire: Sacrificial Acts in Estela Portillo-Trambley's The Day of the Swallows.” RLA: Romance Languages Annual 9 (1997): 704-09.

In the following essay, Southerland contends that sacrifice is a central thematic concern in The Day of the Swallows.

Representations of sacrifice pervade Latin American literature and culture, dating back to the ritual offerings of self and others in ancient indigenous cultures. The Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations deemed sacrificial offerings honorable and crucial to the preservation of their race. It was only with the advent of Christianity that the sacrificial act, especially in the self-referential manifestation of suicide, came to be regarded negatively. This is despite the fact that the Bible “nowhere proscribes suicide” and is, in fact, replete with examples of it that are not condemned (Droge xi).

The theme of sacrifice provides the foundation for Estela Portillo-Trambley's The Day of the Swallows...