What+rolse+do+issues+of+money+and+social+inequity+play+in+this+story?

Money plays a big role on the story as it represents status. Yolanda has come from the United States where there is alot of money. Her life is alot less sheltered than those of her aunts and the others living in the Dominican Republic. People look at Yolanda as an outsider as she drives around in her air conditioned car. To have a car was a big deal at that time. To have a car meant you had money, which was very scarce in their country. When Yolanda arrives at the concrete wall, shes sees a chocolate Mercedes and assumes the owners are visiting from America. When Yolanda reaches Altamira and pulls up to the cantina, Jose is afraid of her and too shy to tell her his name. The woman tells Yolanda that he is just "not used to being around people." But Yolanda knows she means people with money, not from their village.

Money also represents reward. Yolanda bribes Jose with a dollar so he will run as fast as he can into town to find help. Jose is stunned at her offer and immediately wants to help. When the two men help Yolanda with her car and fix her problem, she tries to reward and thank them with money, but they will not accept it. They are too proud and polite, and to them, it would be wrong.

Social inequity is seen in the way Yolanda and the villagers treat each other. The villagers are reluctant to talk to her and are probably wondering what she is doing in their town. Yolanda can see this but tries to be as nice as possible and have fun with the villagers. Socializing is hard as there are two different languages being spoken, and the two worlds must try to understand each other. Yolanda is a very cultured and smart person and has alot of patience with the villagers.

Language also plays a big role in the story. Language represents power and weakness. Having forgotten alot of the Spanish language, Yolanda finds communicating with the villagers hard. In this way, it serves as her weakness which she must try to overcome. Later in the story, Yolanda also uses her language as her strength. When she is first confronted by the two men, she pretends not to speak any Spanish, because it gives her a sense of security. She hopes that she will come across as innocent and naive so that the men will nice and helpful to her. In this way, Yolanda uses language as power.