Mañanaland

A river flows through Santa Maria, called Río Bobinado. Max describes this river as “erratic” and “indecisive,” curving this way and that as if it can’t decide where to go. This inspires Max to invent a legend about a giant snake that couldn’t decide which path to take. As the snake travelled, its body carved a chasm that eventually filled with water to form Río Bobinado.

This river of uncertainty reflects the uncertainty Max must navigate as he grows up. When Max embarks on his journey as a guardian, he travels alongside the river to reach the next destination, symbolizing Max’s unsatisfying search for answers about his future as he comes-of-age.

The river also represents the slippery and unpredictable nature of the future. After completing his journey as a guardian, Max travels back on the river with Yadra, where he’s invited to hold tomorrow—a magical moment Max has heard Buelo describe in his stories about Yadra and the secret bridge. Max puts his hands into the river, and the water becomes a bubble that Max can hold. While holding the bubble, Max travels through his imagination to confront his greatest worries and fears about the future. He journeys across the river carved by the winding serpent from his stories and finds no answers about his mother. However, this experience with holding tomorrow teaches him that not having answers only means that there are open possibilities “he could not yet see” (222). Max realizes that uncertainty and mystery are facts of life.

Mañanaland, which means tomorrowland, is a metaphorical paradise beyond the hardships of today. Mañanaland is referenced in the title of the book and throughout the story. Mañanaland is the place hidden ones seek when escaping Abismo: a place where they no longer must face cruelty and pain. Mañanaland also represents the place of maturity and wisdom Max will reach as he grows up into a man.

Max first discovers the name Mañanaland on a stone rubbing Max finds in Papá’s important papers. Max wants answers about his mother’s disappearance and hopes this clue will help him find them. The rubbing leads Max to explore the tower, where he discovers his mother’s maiden name carved on the walls, along with the message “MY EYES ON MAÑANALAND my heart in Santa Maria” (117). This leads Max to believe his mother is living somewhere in a country called Mañanaland. When Max sees Mañanaland referenced elsewhere in the tower as well, including a mural depicting Mañanaland as a luscious paradise filled with sunshine and beauty, Max is further convinced Mañanaland exists. Max sets off as Isadora’s guardian, believing she’s destined for Mañanaland. Max hopes he can make it there himself and find his mother.

What Max discovers instead is that Mañanaland is only a metaphor for the better tomorrow hidden ones hope to reach once they escape Abismo. The dead-end disappoints Max, but ultimately helps him find closure about life’s unanswered questions.

A defining feature of Santa Maria’s landscape is a stone tower that stands amidst palace ruins on a cliff called La Reina Gigante, or giant queen. This tower holds spiritual significance for Max and the people of Santa Maria. The tower is called the giant queen “because she looked like the most powerful piece on a chessboard” (6). La Reina looms over Santa Maria, as if watching over the village.

La Reina represents resiliency and protection. It has withstood many events while the palace around it has fallen to ruin. It has also safely housed hidden ones escaping Abismo. The tower is often personified with motherly and divine characteristics, as if La Reina is a queen who cares for and protects her people. Hidden ones are said to pray to La Reina “for her protection and guidance, as if she was a saint or a guardian angel” (7). Max can see La Reina outside his window, and often prays to her as well.

Max looks to La Reina Gigante to replace his longing for his mother. When Max goes inside the tower for the first time, he hears a wind that sounds like a ghostly lullaby. Later, La Reina comes to life and visits Max in a dream-like moment to soothe him to sleep. At the novel’s conclusion, Max looks to the tower and asks: “La Reina, do you believe in happy endings?” to which “her crown seemed to bob back and forth” in answer (247). La Reina Gigante is an entity Max confides in and looks to for guidance. In return, she offers resiliency, stability, strength, and a bit of magic.

The Peregrine Falcon is a bird that frequently appears in Mañanaland, both in physical form as well as symbolically. There are several myths associated with the falcon: it’s considered a “pilgrim bird” (34) that travels far away, yet always returns every year. Seeing a peregrine falcon brings good luck. Peregrine falcons also are associated with hidden ones, whose spirits are said to return to the tower every year “on the wings of the peregrine falcon” (6). Like the peregrine falcon, the hidden ones are pilgrims. They seek a better life and a better land, metaphorically known as Mañanaland. Guardians are also pilgrims who travel towards Mañanaland escorting hidden ones to their destination. Guardians use the phrase “a pilgrim, true of heart” to announce themselves to one another and to hidden ones, proving they can be trusted.

When a peregrine falcon appears as a symbol, it represents a safe place for hidden ones. Papá uses peregrine falcons on his bridge map to indicate safe hiding spots. Yadra’s home has a door knocker decorated with peregrine falcons, signaling that hidden ones have reached a safe harbor. For the hidden ones, the peregrine falcon represents hope, safety, and protection as they make the dangerous journey from Abismo.

Max spots peregrine falcons frequently the summer he becomes a guardian. They help Max feel protected as he makes his journey. Max associates the peregrine falcon with his mother, since she’s a hidden one. At the end of the novel Max tells a story about a princess, inspired by his mother’s story. When a dragon transforms the princess into a peregrine falcon, she flies over her family’s home to watch over them and sing them a lullaby. For Max, peregrine falcons help show Max he’s on the right path in life and is protected by the love of his family.

One of the few belongings Max has from his mother is her beloved compass. Max’s mother lost the compass and left before she could find it. Papá gives Max the compass one night when Max is in grade two, after a boy at school asks about Max’s mother and upsets Max. Papá does not know how to talk to Max about his mother, since Papá doesn’t know why she left. Instead, Papá gives Max the compass to help Max feel connected to her. Ever since, Max wears the compass around his neck on a leather cord. Max hopes the compass will help him find his mother and that he will be able to return it to her.

The compass represents Max’s search for answers to life’s mysteries. Max wears the compass as he navigates his journey into adulthood as well as his physical journey with Isadora. However, Max learns the place he’s trying to reach, Mañanaland, does not truly exist.

Max completes his journey as a guardian when he reunites Isadora with her sister, Rosalina. Before Max and Isadora part, Max gives Isadora the compass to help her find her way. This moment shows Max has reached the end of his spiritual journey. He has learned a lesson about compassion and helping others, represented when he gives up his cherished compass to comfort Isadora. It also shows Max has finished his search for his mother. Max accepts he won’t always find all the answers he wants. Max learns to trust the path he’s on anyway.