The Red Umbrella

In the beginning of the novel, Lucia is 14 years old. She longs for more freedom and respect from her parents. She believes that she has a better understanding of the political situation than her parents do, revealing her naivete and immaturity. When she is confronted with negative aspects of the revolution, she thinks there is a logical explanation or good reason for it all. Though Lucia believes she is mature, her actions and thoughts reveal that she is not yet as mature as she thinks.

In the beginning of Chapter 5, Lucia is eager to run errands on her own, wear pink nail polish, and be treated like an adult. She experiences a reckoning in Chapter 8, when she runs home seeking comfort in her mother’s arms after finding Doc Machado’s body in the park. This confrontation with the reality of Castro’s revolution marks the beginning of Lucia’s coming-of-age journey, as her recognition of the severity of the situation marks one step toward emotional maturity. From this point forward, she teeters between wanting to be more grown up and still being a child.

A key aspect of growing into adulthood is a loss of innocence. As Lucia’s experiences push her closer to maturity, she experiences a corresponding loss of innocence. The Doc Machado incident is one harsh example. A second example occurs when Lucia is assaulted by Manuel, who objectifies her and then berates her because of her father’s political affiliation. Lucia wonders if he mistreats her because she does not act like a grown up. She also wonders if she should have let him continue kissing and mistreating her. A third example occurs when Lucia suspects that Ivette betrayed her by reporting Papa to the authorities. Death, sexual assault, and betrayal are heavy experiences, and each incident contributes to Lucia’s loss of innocence, which she can never reclaim.

The balance between childhood and adulthood, innocence and maturity, is especially clear in Chapter 23, when Lucia and Frankie play in the mud like children. As Mrs. Baxter sprays the siblings with the water hose, Lucia’s narration reveals that she is still a child at heart: “I laughed at the silliness of it all until she pointed the hose at me. Then I ran along with Frankie and laughed some more. I didn’t stop again until the pain in my side forced me to take a long, deep breath” (220). Lucia grows more mature as she comes to terms with her uncertain future, but in this episode with the hose, she allows her youth to surface, uncensured and unrestrained.

Of course, adulthood is inevitable. Lucia’s maturity and budding wisdom are apparent after the dissolution of her friendship with Ivette. She understands that this friendship will not survive their diverging ideologies, recognizing the danger in Ivette’s fanaticism. In a true display of wisdom, she also recognizes the tragedy of Ivette’s predicament, realizing that Ivette has been taken away by the revolution, just like so many other people and things.

There is another flash of Lucia’s old, less mature self in Chapter 32, when she is annoyed by her mother’s direction to behave like a “young lady.” However, the reader has witnessed Lucia’s growth, including how she has navigated her new life in the US, how she has embraced her responsibilities, and how she has handled the conflict with Ivette. It is clear that Mama need not worry. By the end of the novel, Lucia herself realizes how much she has grown up. She hopes that her mother recognizes her maturity and is not disappointed in who Lucia has become.