Morning Girl

Content Warning: This section includes discussions of colonization and miscarriage.

Morning Girl is the protagonist, title character, and co-narrator of Morning Girl. Throughout the story, she undergoes a coming-of-age process, maturing and discovering her identity. The new name her brother gives her, The One Who Stands Beside, symbolizes this transformation and reflects their evolving relationship. The narrative does not specify her age, but she is likely around 10 years old based on her behaviors and life challenges.

The narrative characterizes Morning Girl by her love for mornings and tendency to rise early with something on her mind, a trait that gives her name. She likes to explore the island at dawn before everyone else wakes up. Like all the characters, Morning Girl has a deep Respect for the Natural World. She claims that in the morning, “Outside, at least, belonged to me since no one else was around” (5). She enjoys running, swimming, climbing, and picking flowers. She often frequently uses natural items as points of comparison, like when she compares her chin to a starfish. This reflects the Taíno culture she belongs to, which is deeply respectful of nature.

Morning Girl has a loving and positive relationship with her parents, which conveys the theme of

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