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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.
Apples
Xiomara’s love for apples links her symbolically with Eve from the book of Genesis in the Bible. Throughout the novel, Xiomara questions what she perceives as the patriarchal structure of Christianity, including the story of Eve as the cause for the fall of man and humanity’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. She wonders why God would give Eve a sense of curiosity and then punish her for trying to satisfy it, similar to how she struggles to reconcile her own questions about the Catholic faith with Mami’s rigid and abusive attempts to control her beliefs.
It is also significant that Twin is the one who gives Xiomara apples and that he, too, is exploring his own curiosities, which in their system of faith, is as punishable as Xiomara’s questions and desires. Twin’s relationship is never exposed and thus never dealt with by their Mami, who generally sees men as being faultless and women as being the cause of man’s downfall in both Biblical lore and modern society.
This projection is evidenced in Mami’s accusations that Xiomara is responsible for the attention she gets from males, even going so far as to suggest that when Xiomara started her first menstrual cycle at age 11, she did so purposefully to be a temptation for men. For Xiomara, the forbidden fruit is autonomy, and her pursuit of that freedom brings down the wrath of Mami who abuses her daughter for trying to partake in the independence Mami has declared is off-limits.
Xiomara’s Notebook
Xiomara’s notebook is ever-present throughout the novel and is the place where she hides and protects his most authentic self. The novel’s structural framework is a collection of poems contained within Xiomara’s notebook. The notebook represents Xiomara’s growth for as Xiomara grows into herself and her esteem, her notebook grows in her thoughts and ideas, both expanding so far that at the book’s climax, Xiomara outgrows her first notebook by filling all of its pages and moves into a second one.
Since Twin bought Xiomara her first notebook, it is also symbolic of Twin seeing his sister for who she is and affirming the identity and values she’s chosen. He is the first person to encourage her in her art, telling her the world needs her poetry. The fact that Twin went to the bookstore to buy a fancy leather book means he believes his sister’s words deserve a beautiful place in the world, and Xiomara recognizes that the gift indicates that her brother thinks her thoughts are important.
The notebook is also a symbol of escape since Xiomara can be herself in her notebook and through her poetry when no one, especially Mami, seems to appreciate or understand her. It’s in her notebook she expresses her doubts and fears along with her desires and dreams. When Mami burns Xiomara’s first notebook in the story’s climax, it is her final attempt not only to control Xiomara’s behaviors but also her thoughts. When Xiomara faces Mami and recites poetry over Mami’s frantic hissing while the pages of Xiomara’s notebook burn, it is clear that Xiomara’s has been transformed. She understands that the notebook is only the place where she records her thoughts, and she is the source of her words and her truth. Xiomara states that Mami cannot burn what’s inside of her by burning the notebook, asserting her own power and control over who she is and defying her mother’s efforts to control her.
Labels
Labels are applied to various characters throughout the novel, and these labels serve to define both the role the character plays and the one projected onto them. For example, Xiomara labels her twin brother “Twin.” This moniker signifies their unique sibling relationship, something she takes pride in because it belongs only to them and is not something over which her mother can claim ownership. Xiomara habitually calls Xavier “Twin” in the novel while others call him Xavier. Other family names employed by Xiomara in the novel—Mami for her mother and Papi for her father—represent the roles they play in her life and in the novel.
Likewise, the names given to the twins by Mami are significant. Both Xiomara and Xavier have names that start with the letter X, but Xiomara’s name is the only non-Biblical name. Mami believed she was giving Xiomara a biblical name, though it turned out she did not. Not only was Xiomara made exceptional because she was not given a Biblical name, but she has also been raised being repeatedly told she was “not an easy one” because her birth was not easy for Mami. That distinction sets Xiomara apart as seen in how she is labeled by her parents as the difficult child, the one who was never easy. Not having a biblical name also foreshadows Xiomara’s conflict over the faith she’s expected to embrace. The meaning of her name, warrior, also foreshadows how Xiomara must battle not only with Mami but also with herself as she tries to navigate a world full of men who judge her and objectify her because of her body. She is labeled as a cuero and a whore not only by boys and men but also by other girls and Mami. These labels cause discomfort, shame, and anger for Xiomara.
