The Distance Between Us Chapters 12-14

Which of the following statements best describes the parallelism in the text between Mami's feelings of betrayal and those of her children?

Reyna fills in the blanks as to what happened between her Mami and Papi in El Otro Lado. Two and a half years after arriving there, Papi told Mami he didn’t love her anymore and no longer wanted to live with her. Mami was devastated that not only was her husband leaving her for another woman—but was leaving her for another woman from Mexico. This woman, however, was a U.S. citizen who spoke English.The older Reyna provides some context as to the truth of what happened between her parents in El Otro Lado in order to foreshadow the events that are still to come. Papi’s infidelity and abandonment, and the feelings of betrayal they inspire in Mami, mirror the feelings of betrayal she engendered in her own children when she left Mexico.

What can be inferred from the events described in the passage about the impact of Papi's actions on his children's perceptions of him and their mother?

When Papi tossed Mami out of the apartment, he did not allow her to take Betty, and refused to let her see the child any longer. Every day, though, Mami would go to Betty’s babysitter’s house and wheedle the woman into letting her visit with her daughter. One day, Mami convinced the babysitter to let her take Betty out for ice cream. Rather than returning with the baby, Mami took Betty home with her. That evening, Papi came looking for Mami with a gun, threatening both her and the baby while Betty cried. A bystander tried to break up the altercation, and Papi shot him. Papi was arrested, but allowed voluntary deportation. Within a week after being deported, Papi snuck back across the border, resuming his life in El Otro Lado.The violent tale of Papi’s cruel, threatening behavior towards Mami throws into question just how great a man the Man Behind the Glass truly is, and also raises suspicions as to which, if either of them, is telling the truth. With so much anger and bad blood swirling, both Mami and Papi have become even less reliable in their children’s eyes.

What can be inferred from Carlos's behavior after returning from the train station?

By November, Mami has obtained a job at a record shop. She works late, and often comes home after dark. Since there are no streetlights on the way to Abuelita Chinta’s from the bus stop, her brother, Tío Crece, usually meets her there and walks her home. One night, there is no sign of Crece, and Abuelita Chinta sends Carlos to go retrieve Mami and walk her home. A while later, though, Mami comes home alone, insisting that Carlos wasn’t waiting for her at the bus stop. They all go out to look for him, and soon find him walking towards them. When Mago asks where Carlos was, he replies “nowhere.” Back at the house, he demands to be left alone, and goes straight to bed.Something is going on with Mami—and Carlos alone knows what it is. His sullen behavior after returning from the train station indicates that he has seen something he was not supposed to—and Mami’s newly-single status combined with her volatility seems to point to the presence of a new man in her life.

How do Carlos's actions contribute to the development of the plot in this passage?

In the morning, Carlos is still in a bad mood. That evening, Abuelita Chinta sends the three children out to buy sodas before dinner. On the way home from the store, Mago asks Carlos what’s wrong, and he reluctantly reveals that last night he saw Mami kissing a man at the bus stop. Carlos, wanting to avoid Mami, hid in a tree while she made her way home. Carlos confirms that Mami has taken up with a man, setting in motion his siblings’ fears that their mother will soon abandon them again in her search for love.

What can be inferred from Mami's actions in this passage about her character and her relationship with her children?

At dinner, Mago is sullen and silent. When Mami asks her what’s wrong, Mago reveals that they all know about Mami’s boyfriend. Mami explains that the man is a car insurance salesman who works as a wrestler on the weekends, and that she’s soon going to go away with him to Acapulco. Mago begs Mami not to go, but Mami insists she won’t be gone for long. Even Abuelita Chinta urges Mami not to leave, but Mami insists that she has made her decision. The next day, when Reyna and her siblings get home from school, they find that their mother has gone. The children weep, miserable and angered that their mother didn’t even have the courage to say goodbye to them. When Mago calls Mami out for having a secret boyfriend, Mami doesn’t try to deny it or even take her children’s feelings into account—she simply announces that she is leaving, and then departs in the most cowardly way possible, abandoning and re-traumatizing her children so soon after she’d returned to them.

What do Mago and Reyna believe caused Carlos's illness?

Shortly after Mami leaves, Carlos falls terribly ill. He has a high fever and terrible headaches, and vomits often. He loses a good deal of weight and takes on a skeletal appearance. Mago and Reyna are furious with their mother, and believe Carlos’s illness is directly related to her abandonment. They would later discover that he was suffering from hepatitis, but at the time blamed it on his sorrow.The last time Mami left, the effect was so profound that when she departed, Carlos’s illness was mistaken for a physiological reaction to his own feelings of despair.

Which of the following best describes the impact of Carlos' situation on his academic performance and personal life?

Carlos misses over a month of school, and his grades plummet. Once he is well enough to return again, he insists he’s not going to go, unable to see the point in trying to salvage his marks. The children’s Tīo Crece, overhearing an argument about school between Carlos and Abuelita Chinta, urges Carlos to come with him to find work. Reyna is nervous about Carlos hanging out with their “crazy uncle,” but she admits that there is no one else around to teach her brother how to be a man.Though Carlos was suffering from a real disease and not simply heartache, it does become evident that Mami’s abandonments have had an effect on him—he longs for an adult presence and influence in his life, and turns to Tío Crece to fill the void left by the repeated abandonments he’s been forced to endure.

Tío Crece suffers from schizophrenia, but hardly anyone realizes that this is his diagnosis—many neighbors and family members believe he went mad years ago when one of his girlfriends slipped him a love potion, sickening him with hallucinations and madness that would chase him his whole life. At just thirty years old, Crece is skeletally thin, with oily hair and rotten teeth. He often tries to get Reyna to kiss him, and even masturbates in front of her in the main room of Abuelita Chinta’s shack.Tío Crece is lewd at best and dangerous at worst, but his family makes excuses for him because of his affliction. Reyna fears the man, and yet when Carlos begins growing close to him, others encourage the attachment in hopes that it will be good for both Carlos and Crece.

Which of the following best describes the impact of Tío Crece's presence on Carlos and his family?

Later that evening, Crece and Carlos return home dirty and sweaty, but happy. They have brought home a bounty of food. As Abuelita Chinta and Crece prepare dinner, Carlos tells his sisters exciting tales of his day with Crece. From that day on, Carlos and Crece are inseparable. Mago urges Carlos to remember that Crece isn’t his father. Reyna realizes that, in the wake of their mother’s second abandonment, Carlos is growing up and needs a male role model in his life—not his “little mother” Mago.Reyna and Mago have been so focused on their mother’s absence and what it means for them that they never stopped to consider what the lack of a positive male role model might do to their little brother. Now, as they see Carlos enjoying his time with Crece, they realize what he has been missing.

Which of the following best describes the reason why Carlos is no longer allowed to spend his days with Tío Crece?

A few weeks later, another of the children’s Tíos come for a visit. Crece is in a bad mood the whole time, and even takes his rage out on Carlos. When Tío Mario and Tio Crece go out drinking one night, Crece’s madness is exacerbated by the alcohol, and he gets into a violent fight with Mario. Chinta and Carlos attempt to break up the fight, and Crece nearly turns on them before suddenly coming out of his drunken hallucination. After this incident, Carlos is no longer allowed to spend his days with Crece, and Abuelita Chinta forces him to return to school.At the end of the day, though, Crece is unstable and even dangerous, and is not the role model Carlos needs. As Carlos is forced to go back to school, he and Crece are separated from one another—though this small abandonment is perhaps for the best.

Which of the following best describes Abuelita Chinta's explanation for Mami's behavior?

On a rainy afternoon in June 1983, Abuelita Chinta cooks hot chocolate for Reyna, Mago, and Carlos before visiting her daughter, Tía Güera, whose baby daughter Lupita is sick. While Abuelita is out, Mago tells her younger siblings about Papi, which only she can remember. When Abuelita Chinta arrives home, Reyna asks her to tell them stories about Mami as a child, including one about her failed attempt to tame and ride a donkey. Chinta says Mami feels she failed again, like with the donkey, and is worried everyone else thinks so too.  Abuelita tells Reyna one anecdote about Mami that explains her wild and callous behavior. Mami is frightened of failing in public, according to Chinta. She runs out with men to hide her failed marriage and her dishonor and unhappiness.

Which of the following best describes the impact of natural disasters on Reyna's community?

The rainy season is coming, which means floods and damage. The river behind the train tracks floods later in the week, and Abuelita Chinta's shack also floods. The water covers the whole neighborhood next to Reyna's. One morning, a neighbor yells for Abuela Chinta and slams on the door, saying that he has bad news about Reyna's cousin Catalina. Because Reyna's family and their friends live in extreme poverty, they are more likely to be hurt by natural disasters like floods, which hurt whole communities in this part of the world.

Which of the following best describes Reyna's attitude towards natural disasters and their impact on her family?

Abuelita Chinta, Reyna, and her brothers visit Tío Gary, whose five-year-old daughter is Catalina. They find a rushing river thirty feet from Gary's hut. Her mother hopes someone downriver saved Catalina when she fell in. Abuelita Chinta prays at Gary's house while Reyna, Mago, and Carlos leave home that evening. Reyna requests a story from Mago. Mago tells her about the three tiny pigs, and Reyna imagines Papi's dream house as the third pig's brick-and-mortar house, standing strong among their village's stick-and-straw houses. Reyna craves safety after a devastating natural calamity. She compares Papi's ideal house to the third pig's house in the three little pigs and wants a place where she will always feel safe.

Which of the following best describes Reyna's reaction to the discovery of Catalina's body?

Reyna and her siblings return to Tío Gary's residence the next day after finding Catalina's body. Gary and his neighbors tie Catalina from a tree by her feet to drain her bloated carcass. Reyna is terrified that by the time Papi finishes his dream mansion, no one will be there to protect. She fears a "wolf" will attack her and her siblings like Catalina's flood. Reyna fears finding Catalina's body. She knows that because Papi has been gone so long, he may miss his chance to be there for his family when it counts most—and may perhaps lose them to circumstances beyond anyone's control.