Unlike men, who are encouraged to explore the world and its opportunities, women in the novel are expected to fulfill the roles of wives and mothers, with their lives focused on the home. Nestor tells Delores, "a woman with two children should never spend more time than's necessary away from home." It's crucial to recognize that Hijuelos criticizes this mindset rather than endorsing it, primarily through the character of Delores. She is a book-loving Cuban who dreams of attending college and questions why life as a housewife doesn't bring her emotional fulfillment. Delores wonders, "why did she act willingly like a slave, attending to all the men, and yet feel no satisfaction or closeness to the women, like her sister, Ana Maria, and Pablo's wife, Miriam, who went happily about the business of cooking and happily rushed into the living room with trays of food?" However, the novel does not delve into the thoughts of these other women, leaving their true feelings unknown. Whether they are genuinely as content as Delores perceives them to be remains a mystery.