Trying to figure out who you are can be complicated. Especially when you are young. Sometimes you have to make choices to find your self. In the short story “Dead end” Maria deals with a struggle and tied between two things: keeping the promise she made to her mother or becoming like the other girls in school dressed all fancy an popular. In her mother’s bed death she promised her to get an education no matter what.
Maria is the main character in the story and she is a protagonist. She is the center of the story. Without her, there is no story. In the beginning of the story she seems very purposeful. Her goal is to keep her promise about getting a good education she made to her mother before she died. Maria and Frankie, the most handsome guy in school have feelings for each other:
‘ “ I never had the chance, “ her mother said, “because an education was only for boys. A girl was supposed to get married, raise kids, take care of her family, but you are smart Maria. You must study and become educated” Two years ago, at her mother’s deathbed, Maria promised she would not give up her dream of getting a good education" ‘(P 1. L 36-41)
In this quote we can see when she makes the promise to her mother. Her mother believes she is different and therefore has the opportunity to get an education. She does not want her daughter to end up like the others with no education. Every choice Maria makes henceforward is based on that promise she made to her mother. The promise is some how