Character Analysis: Catch The Moon

Embrace All Emotions Have you ever lost someone you loved the most in your life? Did it leave you feeling numb? Luis, the main character in Judith Cofer Ortiz’s short story, “Catch the Moon,” experiences the agony of losing his mother and not being able to confront his grief for three years. This short story explores the topic of being able to do good once again only after confronting the bad. In the beginning of the story, Luis is up to no good and currently serving a sentence of six months of free labor for his father, Jorge Cintron, at the family-owned junkyard to make up for his past mistakes. One day, a girl, Naomi, walks into the junkyard looking for a hubcap, and from there, Luis is set on a new path. The lesson that can be learned from “Catch the Moon,” is that confronting feelings head on leads to growth.

Instead of dealing with his emotions, Luis becomes reckless and ends up caught breaking and entering. While serving some of his time helping his dad at the junkyard, he comes across a girl, Naomi, who wanders into the junkyard looking for a hubcap. It’s an experience dealing with the grief of his mother outside of Naomi’s house that changes him and enables him to not only deal with his feelings of loss of his mother but to also do a good deed for Naomi. Luis’ character is able to complete a good deed only once he confronts his feelings he’s pushed down for three