Almost a Woman

Mami is Esmeralda’s mother, and the two share a complicated but close bond. Mami had Esmeralda when she was a teenager, and she has always impressed on Esmeralda that she needs to make better choices and live a better life than Mami has lived. Mami feels that she has been used by the men in her life and warns Esmeralda away from romantic entanglements outside of marriage, though Mami herself has never been married and continues to bring home boyfriends her own mother doesn’t approve of. As the memoir begins, Mami is young, energetic, charismatic, and beautiful, though over time, the wear and tear of having so many children, working at factories, and having the men she loves abandon her pays its toll. By the end of the memoir, Mami looks like an old woman and has lost much of her spirit. Mami once was very strict with Esmeralda and made many of her choices for her, but with age and time, Mami loses her fight and lets Esmeralda get away with more and more. Mami still loves Esmeralda fiercely, and Esmeralda considers her to be the most important relationship she has, but Mami can no longer be the center of Esmeralda’s world.

Ulvi is a Turkish filmmaker who spots Esmeralda on the street and wants to make her his lover, though he pretends to cast her in a film to get her back to his apartment. The two bond over both being outsiders in America, with different cultures, customs, and languages that forever set them apart. An older, worldly man, Ulvi sees a naivete in Esmeralda that he wants to control. Ulvi wishes for Esmeralda to be a certain way and gives her instructions on what to wear, how to speak, how to move, attempting to mold her into the woman he wants her to be. Ulvi also wants to keep Esmeralda to himself, encouraging her to spend less and less time with her family until he asks her to move with him to Florida. Knowing that Mami is the other key figure in Esmeralda’s life, Ulvi forces Esmeralda to choose, wanting her to prove her loyalty and devotion to him. 

Shoshana is Esmeralda’s best friend whom she meets at community college. A first-generation immigrant from Israel, Shoshana bonds with Esmeralda over their strict mothers and the many rules that govern their lives. Shoshana is beautiful, bold, and adventurous, and she encourages Esmeralda to get outside of her shell, especially with dating. Shoshana juggles multiple boyfriends and has an affair with a married man, though she seems to have conservative ideas, claiming she needs to marry a Jewish boy to promote the future of Israel. At the end of the memoir, Shoshana leaves to fulfill her mandatory service to the Israeli military, and though she promises to keep in touch, Esmeralda doubts this will be the case. Shoshana and Esmeralda have shared a special bond together, but life takes them on different paths.

Tata is Esmeralda’s grandmother and Mami’s mother. As the family moves to different apartments and houses, Tata always lives with or near them and helps with the younger children when Mami goes to work. Tata acts as another parental figure for Esmeralda, though like Mami, Tata often gives Esmeralda rules that Tata does not follow. Tata warns Esmeralda against having sex outside of marriage (which she does) and drinking and smoking (both of which she does heavily). Also like Mami, Tata seems to hope that Esmeralda will have a better life than she did, which is why she gives such contradictory messages.