What does the novel demonstrate about the power of family ties?

What does the novel demonstrate about the power of family ties? How does Daniela's family life compare to Cadie's? How does the fracturing of a family affect Garrett? What legacies do Raúl and Dolores pass down to Sal, intentionally or not?

Daniela's family were protecting their life in America and were tightly bound by it. Clyde and Garrett were hiding a secret which held them together. Cadie had no such worries with her family, although she was keeping a secret. Garrett went to an awful foster home and was rescued by his uncle, even if not the greatest caretaker in the world. Clyde did his best to protect Garrett. I think Raul and Dolores did pass down an interest in their country of origin and a loyalty to their family.

Family ties can mean different things. I think it's important to remember that what family looks like on the outside isn't always what the true family situation is. Family ties are strong.

To me this novel demonstrates that the strength of family ties can’t always be predicted. Cadie seemed to have a relatively decent childhood, but her relationship with her parents as she got older seemed to be almost non-existent, at least as from what this author tells us. That left a big hole in Cadie’s character development. Family ties can sometimes be strengthened by having deep, dark secrets to keep, but more often they are strong because the members are content. I often think about Tolstoy’s first sentence in “Anna Karenina”: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” The overall strength of family ties depends on the strength of the individual relationships within that family. In this novel the Garcia family seemed to be tightly knit, but it puzzles me somewhat that such darkness can keep them so close.

Family ties are often two way what is given and what is taken or accepted. However, strong family ties can help develop a persons character is a positive way if the home environment provides for it and with Cadie it was not as strong as Daniella’s as she got older partially because Cadie’s family does not have anything to lose or perhaps that was just the dynamics of the family. I think and have observed the virtues of strong family ties are beneficial and reinforces the positive characteristics in a person and dimmish the negative. The novel illustrates these points by focusing on family relationships and their ties to the outside world.