Teresa Fernandez Character Analysis

Isabel’s mother, Geraldo’s wife, and Lito’s daughter. At the beginning of the story, Teresa is eight and a half months pregnant with Isabel’s little brother. Still, she is adamant about joining her family on their journey to Miami because she wants to keep the family together. This holds true even when Teresa grows sick along the trip and is given the opportunity to receive medical attention in the Bahamas, but knowing that this would result in her deportation back to Cuba, she refuses. Teresa’s condition, however, requires Isabel to take care of her, again emphasizing how the dangerous circumstances that refugee children are put in forces them to grow up much sooner than an average child. At the end of the journey, Teresa gives birth to a baby boy, whom they name Mariano after Lito (Mariano Padron).