Personal Journeys In Across A Hundred Mountains By Reyna Grande

William Tholstrup Ms. Casseta Accelerated Lit and Comp B Set April 10, 2024 Personal Journeys Throughout Across a Hundred Mountains Loss of loved ones and grief are felt by many protagonists in the novel Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande. However, the female characters are often the ones who feel the largest impact. As a result, they are often left to pick up the pieces themselves while managing their emotions, requiring them to undertake unique journeys of self discovery to find closure and come to terms with reality. As they embark on these personal journeys, they must make difficult choices to cope with their grief in a non-detrimental way that shapes them and the future of the novel. The most difficult and complex personal journey throughout

At first, she attempts to cope with this pain in methods that are detrimental to her and her family. Readers can see this as Ama begins to heavily drink to the point where “everyone in the town has started calling Ama La Borracha, the drunk” (Grande 121). These destructive actions performed by Ama in an attempt to heal, show how great her suffering is, where the only way she can find solace is to physically numb herself. Furthermore, the community’s labeling of La Borracha shows how alone she is in this fight, which intensifies the difficulty of her coping as she must navigate her struggles without the understanding and support of her peers. Eventually, however, these destructive actions catch on to Ama, and she realizes the pit she is digging herself into, and now must attempt a way to get out. Being deeply religious, Ama returns back to her roots, “and now Juana rarely saw her, sometimes Ama wouldn’t come home until the next day, saying she’d been praying all night with Dona Martina” (130). Such a noticeable change in lifestyle from alcoholic to devout Christian, demonstrates her complex personal