ad made its contributions to her "revolutionary spirit." Women at that time lived their lives in the constant shadows of men. The women were consumed by family life, marriage, the Catholic church, and lived silently behind their dominant male counterparts. There were many inequalities women and other ethnic, economic, political, or religious minorities suffered under the regime of Porferio Diaz. Mexican women at that time knew they were essential in a number of ways and rose up becoming strong advocates for causes they believed in (Jandura 1). Alfonsa's character speaks of "Dictator Diaz" in a conversation with the main character by the name of John Grady (McCarthy 236).On several occasions, Alfonsa touches on the subject of women's reputation and how valuable it is living in a Mexican society. With her intelligence and whit, she guides and guards her grandniece for her (Alejandra) future's sake. Alfonsa states in the novel about Alejandra, "She is much like me at that age and I seem at times to be struggling with my own pastI have no one to advise me, you see. Perhaps I would not have listened anyway I was also rebellious and so I recognize it in othersYou see that I cannot help but be sympathetic to Alejandra. Even at her worst. I won't have her unhappy. I won't have her spoken ill of" (McCarthy 135-6). After Grady becomes intimately involved with Alejandra, Alfonsa strategically forbids her to see him. For she believed that women had only their reputation and no chance for forgiveness while men were able to lose their reputation and regain it (McCarthy 136-7).In conclusion, Alfonsa's character played a tremendous part in the novel as a whole. Using her psychological and motivational attributes, she gave detailed explanations about her life experiences when speaking to Grady. McCarthy used Alfonsa's character to teach Grady and Alejandra lifelong lessons. The lessons John Grady learned from the Duena were responsibility,...
