Men go off to war and are lauded as heroes for sacrificing their lives for our country, but women—why are our ambitions destined to end in marriage and motherhood?
-- Beatriz (chapter 37)

Importance: Narrated by Beatriz, this quote underscores how the novel challenges the gender roles of its characters. As Beatriz practices taking control of her own destiny and shaping her own destiny with her work in the CIA, she considers how the destiny of women is usually pre-decided. Frustrated, she considers the only two roles assigned to women, as mothers and wives. Even though the rest of her gender is restricted to such a narrow world, Beatriz dreams of a law degree, and her own career in politics. When she tells Dwyer that she wishes to be paid, “100,000 dollars” (90), she is negotiating for herself and for her future. This is not the first instance of Beatriz bemoaning the fate her gender has...