Rain of Gold

The most prominent symbol in the book is the moon, which almost always represents good news or a guide. For example, the full moon dictates a lot of births in the book, such as when Socorro gives birth to beautiful twins. However, when the moon is not full, such as when Sophia is in labor, then “it’s not […] an easy birth” (172). The full moon also appears during the joyful occasion of Don Victor’s return and during the night Lupe and Juan lock eyes. Doña Margarita goes so far as to equate the moon with the Lord when she tells Juan to “[l]ook at the stars and the moon; God is here” (125). Doña Guadalupe also invests the moon with spiritual authority when she reveals that her “father, Leonides, always told me how the moon gave him a pathway of light on those nights that he rode from the authorities, saving my life. He said that the moon came down from the heavens” (235-36). The Moon, Salvador’s reliable and shiny car, is a guide and a positive force. Doña Guadalupe also reminds Lupe of “the power that we women felt, sitting under the light of the full moon,” once again equating the moon with a source of power (236).