Family Lore

Elizabeth AcevedoFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1-Part 2, Chapter 8

Part 2, Chapter 9-Part 3, Chapter 17

Part 3, Chapters 18-27

Part 3, Chapters 28-36

Part 4

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Limes

In Family Lore, limes are a symbol of family unity—supporting the themes of The Limitations of Foreknowledge and The Constraint of Duty. As limes were initially imported to America by Christopher Columbus, whose conquests led to racial violence, the fruit bears residual pain and resilience—due to its eventual adoption into various cuisine. For the Marte family, limes are an integral part of their lives, as their home in the Dominican Republic had “a row of lime trees that grew tall and spindly, protecting their land from those ‘nosy, nobody neighbors’” (34). Though the family home is unattended for years, the trees persist. Like their importation, limes bridge emigrated family members and their cultural history through Yadi’s inheritance of taste from the deceased Mamá Silvia.

Dreams

Dreams are a motif that supports The Limitations of Foreknowledge. For Flor, dreams allow her to predict deaths and other events: “[…] she’d learned to compartmentalize the world of the living and the world of the Before and After […] She was unclear whether she was the traveler or the destination, so maybe the Before and After visited her” (86). However, this gift is capricious, sometimes only offering hints at future events. When Flor does see death, her foresight follows a pattern: In her dreams, her teeth shatter and reveal names, times, and places. She has relied on her power to navigate life, but the novel depicts what happens when she faces her own death dream.

Dancing

Dancing is a symbol of freedom for Matilde and supports The Constraint of Duty. Elizabeth Acevedo frames dancing as a communal activity that reached the Martes through “someone’s citified uncle [who] brought this combination of son and cha-cha and guaguancó” (129). Matilde is so talented at dancing that she identifies it as a gift, as integral to her as Flor’s foresight and Pastora’s truth-hearing. However, Silvia’s refusal to acknowledge her talent condemns her to a broken marriage. Matilde’s commitment to dance—even if it means performing alone and in private—shows her remaining hope for a better life, one in which she is able to be and enjoy herself. Though dancing often involves partnership, she ultimately pursues it as a form of self-actualization.