Content Warning: The source material and study guide contain discussion of murder, torture, political persecution, anti-LGBTQ+ bias (including anti-gay slurs), racism, addiction, suicidal ideation, and child sexual abuse.



Molina, a window dresser incarcerated for “corrupting minors,” is one of the novel’s two primary characters. She is the primary vehicle through which the novel explores The Fluidity of Gender and Orientation, as she describes herself as both gay (i.e., a gay man) and as a woman and adheres to stereotypical female roles throughout the novel. She is sensitive, self-degrading at times, and very expressive, often looking for Valentin’s reassurance, taking care of him while he is ill, and deferring to his wishes when they have sex. Molina’s attraction to Valentin seems to stem partly from the latter’s conventional masculinity; Molina claims that as a “real woman,” she is not romantically interested in gay men. She has a similar interest in a waiter named Gabriel, describing him as a real man, but Gabriel is straight, married, and uninterested in pursuing a relationship. 

Valentin is the first heterosexual man, it seems, to accept Molina for who she is. Molina says, “Valentin, you and my mom are the two people that I’ve loved most in the world” (261).