Rosales Character Analysis

Carlos Morton published The Many Deaths of Danny Rosales in 1983. The play presents itself in the middle of a case, trialing the Sheriff of Castroville for the murder of Danny Rosales. Throughout the trial, a number of witnesses are trialed to determine a viable story that concludes whether the Sheriff, Fred, killed Danny; one of which is Fred’s wife, Grace.

Grace is Fred’s wife. She is mother of Debbie, caretaker of the house and attends to Fred’s every needs. Morton portrays Grace as a very loving wife however, she is a flawed character. From her relationship with her daughter to marriage with Fred , there are flaws that strike out as peculiar. As a character, Grace is a round, static character because she has a striking personality that

Initially I thought she was an unnecessary character because her main purpose was to defend her husband, protecting his title as Sheriff; this was only half of her purpose. She is a very loyal women; she shows her loyalty well to Fred through words and actions. In the case of the play, it was Grace that came into protect Fred. She, along with Debbie set out to Lake Austin to hide the body of Danny Rosales. By attempting to hide the body shows how far Grace can go to protect Fred. Some may say her loyalty to Fred shows her deep affection for him, but through the progression of the story, there is enough to say she is trying to protect herself.

During the trial, Debbie says, “She [Grace] has always depended upon him for everything (827).” This is very true. He was an ex-serviceman in the Air Force, which meant he received a pension but he worked as sheriff, as well. Her relying on Fred means that if he goes down, she doesn’t have anyone providing income for her life. The moment she sees Danny’s body in the backseat is when her mind goes into fight or flight

She shows her assertiveness to Steve by saying, “Let me tell you something about this family. We stick together, you hear (826)?” I liked how she took control of the whole situation, however the decision to bury Danny was a poor choice. It’s understandable to help those you care for the most, but do you go far enough to hide a body?

This immense loyalty reminded me of a mafia. Now in a mafia, everyone is loyal to the ring leader for a certain reason. Whether it be saving them in a life-threatening situation, providing a “job” or funds or even being family— they all are loyal as a way to own the leader back; being loyal means they risk their life in order to keep ties strong. So the reason I bring this up is because this is how I see Grace’s relationship with Fred. Fred gave Grace her the life she has; she wouldn’t be where she is if Fred didn’t have a pension or job. As I mentioned earlier, if Fred goes down, Grace follows. Grace’s life is on the line seeing Danny’s dead body. Another thing to note is the fact that she brushed over alerting the police station. That with her threat to Steve represents how close-knit Grace, and her family, stick; Grace denying the help from an outside force is also another characteristic of a mafia. In all, what happens in the family stays with the family— therefore, Grace has to do whatever it takes to keep Fred from conviction of the murder of Danny