Amá in The Moths

Amá

The narrator's mother is sort of at a loss. She has this rebellious daughter to deal with, and her husband is always blaming her for the narrator's behavior. In the meantime, her mother, Abuelita, is dying. The clearest characterization of Amá comes when the narrator tells her that Abuelita has been falling out of bed:

"Amá looked at me again, confused, angry, and her eyes were filled with sorrow." (12)

Confused, angry, sad—that's Amá in a nutshell in this short story. It's no wonder the narrator doesn't call on her when she realized Abuelita is dead.