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Azucena is a character whose defining characteristics are innocence and helplessness. It is no accident that Azucena in Spanish means "lily," and Azucena is a character who is planted in the ground but an object of beauty. Allende gives her a certain dignity as she faces her plight and the inability of those around her to rescue her. In addition, however, she is bestowed with a considerable maturity and an ability to connect with Rolf Carle that allows him to begin to process certain chapters in his life that he had repressed until this stage. In this the true value of Azucena's character lies, in the way that her closeness to Rolf allows the "unyielding floodgates" of his past experience to become unlocked and to allow him to express his emotion. Note how the story concludes:
I felt how in that instant both were saved from despair, how they were freed from the clay, how they rose above the vultures and helicopters, how togethery they flew above the vast swamp of corruption and laments. How, finally, they were able to accept death.
Azucena, therefore, in her innocence and vulnerability, is able to have a massive impact on Rolf Carle that allows both him and herself to transcend their realities and achieve a kind of freedom fro the oppression that surrounds them. This forces us to have an intense admiration for Azucena and for who she is as a character. In spite of being so helpless, she exhibits a kind of strength that allows her to face her situation with considerable bravery. This is clearly shown when she chooses to die, sinking beneath the mud that traps her to her death.
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