Clemencia Character Analysis

The protagonist of “Never Marry a Mexican,” a woman whose Mexican-American mother tells her to never marry a Mexican man. Clemencia takes this advice to heart, even declaring that she’ll never marry any man because she has “witnessed their infidelities.” Instead, she has made peace with the fact that she is somebody who steals other women’s husbands, as she does by falling in love with Drew. Indeed, Clemencia’s relationship with Drew is long and complicated, beginning even before Drew and his wife Megan have a son together—and when this son is born, Clemencia makes sure that Drew isn’t by his wife’s side in the hospital, but rather at home having sex with her (Clemencia). When Drew’s son is old enough, Clemencia takes him under her wing and begins sleeping with him too. And though she is strong and independent—upholding that Drew is “nothing” without her—she can’t help but feel jealous and hurt when she imagines Drew lying next to Megan in bed. In response to this pain, she turns her attention outward, watching people pass her on the street and feeling that “all humanity” is “lovely.”