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Fourteen-year-old Elena feels at odds with her school, her city, and, increasingly, with her parents. Her race and ethnicity alienate her from her peers and from Paterson, where Puerto Ricans are wrongly considered foreign intruders with unpleasant customs, as illustrated by the girls at school making fun of Elena’s food. Elena’s age and status as a girl growing up in the mainland United States alienate her from her parents, particularly from her mother.

Elena and her mother clash over her growing interest in romance, a typical source of tension between teenagers and their parents. However, Elena’s mother’s assertion that she is changing and forgetting who she is also reveals their growing divide over assimilating with mainland American culture. Elena’s parents, especially her mother, dream of returning to Puerto Rico. Although Elena also hates Paterson and struggles with classmates making fun of her Puerto Rican heritage, Elena nevertheless makes strides at assimilating when she befriends Eugene and makes plans to go to college and become a teacher. These tensions drive the underlying conflicts in the first part of the story.

Elena experiences a turning point when she decides to ignore her mother’s demands and disapproval in favor of carrying on with her plans to meet Eugene rather than mourning Kennedy. In this scene, she takes a definitive step to define her own values, a step that represents a rupture in their relationship. This decision to leave the protective zone of her mother’s attention leads to a loss of innocence when Eugene’s mother refuses to let her enter the house and warns her from developing a deeper relationship with Eugene.

The implied racism behind Eugene’s mother’s rejection comes as a shock to Elena, despite her familiarity with the taunts of the girls at school. At the end of the story, Elena feels heartbroken at the turn of events at Eugene’s house, but she also can’t seek comfort from her mother because she has gone against her advice. Over the course of the story, Elena takes important steps to develop a separate, adult life, but she also experiences a greater sense of alienation. 

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