Mother knows best.

In this section of the book, Julia travels to Mexico where she is confronted with her mother's childhood. We learn about Amá's upbringing and how it compared to that of Julia's."She (meaning Amá) and tia Estela used to share a cramped, dusty room all the way in the back of the house. They even had to sleep in the same lumpy bed, which has never been replaced. I can't imagine having to sleep next to my sister my whole life. We've always been poor, and I've always had my own room."(250-251) Many things can be said about this realization, for one thing, Julia seems to question why Amá never grants her any privacy why all her things are looked through. But even then Julia has things that belong to her that can be looked through a room, journals, etc. But this section is important because it parallels Julia, her mother, and even Olga. Right before she leaves the US Juila was able to hack into Olga's computer. Did it make it alright that her sister was gone to look through her things, or like Julia said she was justified because she was looking for context? I think Julia always assumed that there was more in common between Amá and Olga. Julia constantly refers to herself as being unwanted and speaks about how her mother regrets her. All throughout the book, we see the tension caused by the relationship between mother and daughter partly it stems from the fact that Amá is strict and restrictive to her daughter's wishes for her future. Part of that tension could better be explained by learning more about Amá. For one we identified that we only see Amá through the point of view of Julia, which could be unreliable base on the bias of relationship she feels towards her mother. All these feelings of "I'm the only person going through this!" and "No one could possibly understand what I'm going through!" are not solely felt by Juila. These feelings of misunderstanding and rebelliousness are not uncommon for the Montenegro women. Even Amá has felt them.
" I know you and your mother don't get along, but you're more alike than you think," she (Mama Jacinta) says, stirring in the honey.
"I seriously doubt that"
"You know, she was always the rebellious one. She was the first one in the family to move to the other side. But you knew that, didn't you? I told her not to, but she said she wanted to live in Chicago, where she could work and have her own house."
"Rebellious? Amá?" My mind can't process that. My mother is the most rigid person I know. you shouldn't be so hard on her Mija. She's been through so much." (248)
This illuminates a connection to passion and dreams for a better life something that is seen in both women as they struggle to find their footing to push toward there goals. In this section, we find about how Amá was taken when she was crossing the border while her husband was held at gunpoint she was raped. Part of this experience could have instilled cautious in Amá to where dreams could take you and the dangers of foolishly dreaming that she later translates into her daughters.

 1.) In what ways does Amá's projection of fear (micromanaging and intrusive behavior) contribute to her personality/expression? Where do we see this in the novel?

2.) What do the similarities and differences between Amá and Juila mean for there relationships from now and going forward when Juila returns back to the United States.