So Far From God

This chapter shines some light on La Loca and her uncanny abilities. Since childhood, she has spending time by at the acequia (ditch) by her mother’s house, and this is the farthest she has ever ventured from home. Due to this behavior and her lack of social skills, many people assume she is lost or a “simpleton” (151). They never realize,“how effective she could be in handling circumstances that were beyond most people’s patience, not to mention ability” (151). Some of La Loca’s skills include horse training, cooking, embroidery, and a deep understanding of women’s bodies and the reproductive system, none of which were taught to her.

As previously mentioned, she also has some uncanny abilities that allow her to make predictions that come to pass. In this chapter, La Loca encounters La Llorona (Weeping Woman) at the acequia, who informs her of Esperanza’s death, which is confirmed a week later. According to La Loca, La Llorona has been visiting her since childhood. La Llorona is a mythical figure in native lore who “astral-traveled all throughout old Mexico, into the United States, and really anywhere her people lived, wailing, in search of her children whom she drowned so as to run off with her lover” (160).