Alvarez uses Mate challenging the female role of weakness to demonstrate the power in standing up for herself. During her time in prison, Mate is tortured as an attempt to get her to reveal information about a fellow revolutionist. After her torture “Bloody Juan gathered up my clothes, but I wouldn’t let him help me. I dressed myself and walked out to the wagon on my own two feet” (256). Mate has just been through something horrible and demeaning, and is in a great amount of pain, but she still doesn’t want or need help. The phrase “my own two feet” shows how she is aware of her power and she understands that they could not break her. The traditional gender role of females would be to give the information up quickly and be overpowered by the
