ildren most of the time alone while the fathers would be out in the mines or the crops working. Sometimes the father's wouldn't even see their children for many years leaving the mother to take on the role of the father as well. Don Manuel was the major of the canyon. He was to perform the wedding ceremony for Sophia's (Lupe's sister) and Don Tiburcio's wedding. Once the Americans left the canyon Don Manuel went into a deep depression."She's el eje de su familia," Dona Guadalupe said this about Josefina. There could be no higher compliment for any woman. El eje was the center of the home; it was the hub from which all the spokes of power flowed out to the rest of the family, like the umbilical cord from a mother to her child (p. 175).Josefina was the center of her family. She was the one who keeps her family together through good and bad times. Many of the women these were el eje de su familia. They helped strengthen their families. Respect, protection of woman's virtue; ideal of women as pure is a theme that begins when a woman is giving birth. An example is when Sophia is giving birth to her first child."Please, now, leave before you witness something you shouldn't." Dona Guadalupe ushered Don Tiburcio out of the door in a hurry. Lupe felt such tenderness for him. But he wasn't a woman, so he couldn't stay and help (p. 191).Men were not allowed to see a woman give birth to their child. It was as if men could not handle seeing and hearing his wife in so much pain. If they witnessed this it was somewhat of a sin. After seeing a woman go through labor they may not see them as "pure" anymore. This was not just an issue that Mexican women had to deal with; it was an issue that all women had to deal with in the past.The power of the woman, especially the mother is seen the be overwhelming. Being a mother myself, I understand that this statement is true. The mother is the first to give nurturance and to educate their childr...
