Elisa Mala Crime Family Analysis

In Crime Family, written and narrated by Elisa Mala, the narrator discusses her experience with the family and friends of criminals, the criminals who mugged her. Mala describes the two women she encounters at the police station with vivid detail, focusing on their physical appearances and verbal nuances. Contrasting in physical appearance, one of the women is the “grandmotherly type… in a white oxford shirt… silver hair tucked away in a ballerina’s bun” (Mala 99). The other female is a “teenage girl… [with a] moon-shaped face… [a] puffy jacket…. large hoop earrings and [a] hairspray-heavy ponytail” (Mala 99). Not only do the women’s appearances differ, but so do their actions. Mala conveys the older woman as “generous” and “beseeching” (Mala