From the second chapter onwards, the gri gri tree features heavily in The Color of My Words as a representation of a safe place for Ana Rosa. The tree is the place where she knows she is “different from everyone else in our village” (25) and is where Ana Rosa can watch everything that is going on, making observations and artistic connections. The gri gri tree takes on kind of a mythical quality in the novel, almost like it is its own place separate from the realities of Ana Rosa’s daily life.

When Guario dies at the foot of the gri gri tree as Ana Rosa watches, the gri gri tree cements its status as a permanently meaningful place for her. For days, Ana Rosa does not leave the tree except at night; the gri gri tree is her only safe place to have all of her internal feelings without having to talk to anyone or use her words out loud. When Ana Rosa is finally ready to leave the tree for good, it is the turning point towards acknowledging that she is a writer. The gri gri tree is immortalized for Ana Rosa in a painting by Señora Perez, which depicts Guario “with angel wings on his back, sitting at the bottom of my gri gri tree” (132).