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Makina’s Brother
Makina’s loving mother, who sends her across the border with a message for her brother. Makina’s fierce loyalty to Cora accounts for her unshakable dedication to completing her mission. However, Cora actually only appears once in the story , during a flashback to the moment when she asked Makina to venture north. When she meets other maternal figures throughout her journey, Makina tends to compare them to Cora and find relief in the thought that she will soon return home to be with her. Of course, this never comes to be, and ultimately Cora’s dedication to reuniting her family ends up forever distancing her from her children, whose identities are remade in the United States.
Cora Quotes in Signs Preceding the End of the World
The Signs Preceding the End of the World quotes below are all either spoken by Cora or refer to Cora. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3 Quotes
Rucksacks. What do people whose life stops here take with them? Makina could see their rucksacks crammed with time. […] Photos, photos, photos. They carried photos like promises but by the time they came back they were in tatters.
In hers, as soon as she’d agreed to go get the kid for Cora, she packed:
a small blue metal flashlight, for the darkness she might encounter,
one white blouse and one with colorful embroidery, in case she came across any parties,
three pairs of panties so she’d always have a clean one even if it took a while to find a washhouse,
a latin-anglo dictionary […],
a picture her little sister had drawn in fat, round strokes that featured herself, Makina and Cora in ascending order, left to right and short to tall,
a bar of xithé soap,
a lipstick that was more long-lasting than it was dark and,
as provisions: amaranth cakes and peanut brittle.
She was coming right back, that’s why that was all she took.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
At the end of the third chapter, after Makina takes off towards the two mountains in the distance, the narrator interjects with this commentary on baggage and identity, which speaks volumes about Makina herself and migrants more broadly. In general, many of the things that people bring are indexical of both personal and cultural identity: the instruments they carry are distinctly Mexican, their “photos, photos, photos” a means of remembering a home they intend to leave behind without severing personal and familial ties. They carry practical survival tools—cold-weather clothing and knives—because they know about the dangers of the journey, but Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Q
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Cora Character Timeline in Signs Preceding the End of the World
The timeline below shows where the character Cora appears in Signs Preceding the End of the World. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Earth
...old man] on his way to hell” before going on with the task her mother Cora had given her: to deliver her brother a paper. As usual, Cora embraced Makina and...
(full context)
...where he is reading the newspaper. He offers her a beer and they chat about Cora, who once sheltered Mr. Double-U when he “was on the run” and remains in his...
(full context)
...her. She knows he wants a favor in return and remembers his fraught relationship with Cora, and that there must be a good reason she does not know the details. Aitch...
(full context)
Chapter 3: The Place Where the Hills Meet
...on the trail.” When Chucho turns his back to walk toward the door, Makina hides Cora’s note and Mr. Aitch’s package in her jacket.
(full context)
Chapter 6: The Place Where Flags Wave
...the restaurant where he works and introduces her to a woman who reminds Makina of Cora. The woman explains that she cared for Makina’s brother when he first arrived a year...
(full context)
Chapter 7: The Place Where People’s Hearts Are Eaten
...outside and “walk awhile in silence.” He asks about her search for him and about Cora. Instead of passing along Cora’s message, Makina asks her brother about the land they claimed.
(full context)
...for her journey back. He hugs her and asks her to send a kiss to Cora, but his nonchalant way of doing so makes Makina feel like “he [is] ripping out...
(full context)
