Elena

Triage Elena Morales.

“I’m sorry, Papa… I didn’t know how much I was hurting you. I’m sorry.”Pg222.

“A very private girl. Even as a child, very self-contained, very quiet, never one to reveal too much of herself… her father dying when she was so young… made her cautious about attachment, careful who she confided in.” Pg37

‘… when Elena woke… she was pleasantly surprised to find his arm still there. Mark had rarely held her in his sleep.” Pg41

“Yes. I had a revelation. It was revealed to me that I should not lose you. It was revealed to me that I should have a baby with you.” Pg68

“I don’t want to talk to my grandfather. I haven’t spoken to him or about him for years and I’d like to keep it that way. Pg73.

You need to learn forgiveness, Elena. What he did happened a long time ago… it’s been nearly fifty years.” Pg85.

"As a program officer, Elena rarely went into the field. Her work was seeing to the administrative needs of the camp from the comfortable vantage point of the New York liaison office, filing requisition forms for blankets and cots, making sure there were sufficient stocks of penicillin and toilet paper." Pg43.

"The horror that passed over her desk - muted by its reduction onto paper, sanitized into the language of beaurocrats - was enough for her. In those reports and eye witness accounts, she could feel the despair, hear the sounds of a family or village dying, smell the awful stench of it, and had no wish to get any closer." Pg44.

"How many people had remained lsot to each other, Elena wondered, because a name had been mistranslated, because she had typed a wrong number in the birth date?" Pg54.

"I've tried so hard to understand. Was he in shock? Was it guilt? Until I understand, I feel I don;t know him at all" Pg187.

"Elena moved closer to her grandfather, slipped udner the arm that reached out for her, leaned into his embrace." Pg234.

"St the thought of her grandfather, Elena felt a blush of remorse...that he would arrive uninvited at this worst possible time, that he was again trying to insinuate himself into her life...dowzens of letters over the years, most never opened, all of them unanswered. Her remorse deepened into shame." Pg118.

""Did you think it would make it easier?", "Did you think we would just forget about Colin?", "Were you ever going to tell?"" Pg173.

""I don't ever want to lose you," she said. Mark pulled back and smiled down at her. "You won't." "But what if you disappear?" The smile ebbed from his face. "People don;t just disappear, Elena." "But they do. They do all the time. I look for them every day.""Pg56.

"Elena understood that sometimes it was a terrible thing to be the one who lived, that this could be a weight in your heart that never left." Pg225.

__ Triage __ __ Character profile - Elena Morales __ - Elena lost her father in a car accident when she was a young child. - She had the support and love of Isabella and Joaquin in her early life. - Went to University at 18 to study History. - Met Mark and fell in love. - At University, she found out that Joaquin was a psychologist for soldiers of War. - Because of what Joaquin had done, she didn’t respond or communicate to him for 6 years. - Works for the United Nations as a program officer for refugee camps. Logistical support. The way that she is not willing to get any closer to the despair of the refugees is in parallel with Marks work as a war photographer. He distances himself from his work by hiding behind the camera while still feeling like he is perrforming an important function. - Elena's Thursday night work bring her much more joy as she feels as though she is truly making a difference, but she still has doubts about the good that she is doing. (pg54.) - Elena tries to keep herself separate from Marks work so that she is not hurt by the realization of it all. - Only open to the ones that she loves and is still not completely trusting of them. - She is not a completely stereotypical woman because she is not interested in having children or settling down at the present time. - Elena is endowed with the feminine 'virtue' of being the chief carer. She looks after Mark, is a good friend and supportive to Diane, is brought to a caring understanding of her grandfather, and tried to reunite displaced refugees. - Elena has the task of forgiveness in relation to her Grandfather and Mark. Her Grandfather for his involvement in war and Mark for concealing Colin's death. - On Elena's return from visiting her mother in Madrid she forgives Mark. This forgiveness takes away a portion of Mark's guilt. - Elena is very caring towards the people around her, for example; Mark, Diane, her family. But she is also able to be tough and taking a stand. This is shown in her rejection of her Grandfather when learning of his war involvements. - Self contained and only relaxes when she is alone.

- The final resolution is seen through Elena's eyes. She is the won who sees 'for the first time how this day and journey might end'. - She has learnt forgiveness.