Summary Of The Three Heartbreaks Of Belicia Cabral

Beli had a horrible life, much worse than any other character in this book. Our first interpretation of Beli was that she was a mean spirited woman and a crappy mother. In chapter 3, we realize that there is a reason for this. Her life does not really begin until La Inca finds her at a very young age in horrible conditions. This chapter is called The Three Heartbreaks of Belicia Cabral because Beli is someone who loves with everything she has. To me, the three main heartbreaks are referring to her love for Jack Pujol, The Gangster and her kidnapping/torture. Her first love was to Jack, a boy who only gave her a second look because she was something he could use for sex whenever he wanted. Beli thought of him as basically a god, but how could she not. The book describes him as, “The school’s handsomest (read:whities) boy, a haughty slender melniboien of pure European stock whose cheeks looked like they’d been kidnapped by a master and whose skin was unflawed by scar, mole, blemish, or hair, his small nipples were the pink perfect oval salchicha.” (pg 89) She had a crush on him …show more content…
It is at this club she meets The Gangster. He tries hitting on her, which she does not take kindly to. But in the end, she wants to go back to the club because there is something about The Gangster that excites her. What she felt for him is so much more than she ever had felt for Jack, “Beli in love! Round Two! But unlike what happened with Pujols, this was the real deal: pure uncut unadulterated love, the Holy Grail that would that would so bedevil her children throughout their lives.” (126-127) She was so infatuated with The Gangster that it consumed her life. But The Gangster did care for her, “the Gangster adored our girl and that adoration was one of the greatest gifts anybody had ever given her.” (127) They both cared deeply for the other, which was Belis greatest