Mud

Mud symbolizes the grit and dirt of the developing country in which Camino lives, the Dominican Republic. It also foreshadows El Cero’s attack and assault of Camino in the mud later at the climax of the novel. The novel opens with Camino claiming, “I know too much of mud,” as she describes her neighborhood and home, but the reader later realizes this will be a reference to her intimate experience with mud in surviving the attack later (1). When Yahaira arrives at the DR she notices how the houses have mud on them as part of their structure, showing how this is an intimate part of the island natives’ lives. After Yahaira and her family rescue Camino from El Cero, she takes her home and wipes mud from her feet. This symbolizes Yahaira cleaning and wiping Camino free from El Cero, and eventually her past life...