Boy Novak

Boy is the novel’s central character and protagonist. She is also its narrator for two out of the book’s three sections.

Because physical appearance is a key component of both the book’s plot elements and its themes, analysis of Boy’s character and identity has to begin with how she looks – pale, slender, and blonde, arguably the stereotypical Caucasian. Her fairness is, at times, an advantage – it is the reason, for example, she gets involved in a situation that turns out to be a key turning point in her life (Part 1, Chapter 3). Her appearance can also be seen as a key reason that Arturo wants to marry her: as someone whose “colored” family has, for generations, sought to pass as white, the prospect of marrying someone who is just about as “white” as can be must have its appeal. On the other hand, Boy...