Incantation

The relationship between appearances and wealth is heavily investigated in this book. Despite the closeness of their upbringings, both Catalina and Estrella are aware of the financial differences between their two families and how those manifest visibly. While Estrella relies on Catalina emotionally, Catalina resents the differences between them. By prioritizing the trappings of wealth over human relationships, Catalina contrasts with Estrella’s emotional growth and embodies Christian attitudes toward Jewish people in Spain at this time. 

Throughout the book, Estrella and Catalina rely on belongings and physical appearances as indicators of people’s social standing and wealth, but their responses to these indicators differ. Estrella sees that the juderia is populated with those who are oppressed in the current system. Noticing the lack of lime trees and gardens that she associates with comfort, she thinks to herself “the Jews [aren’t] rich” and has a hard time reconciling this fact with the complaint from the town that the Jewish population has been stealing (10). From early on in the book, Estrella therefore recognizes how prejudice and other negative emotions influence one’s perception of the truth. Moreover, Estrella herself does not particularly value wealth for its own sake or to display it.