Read the excerpt from "a genetics of justice” by julia alvarez. perhaps because she had innocently revered him, my mother was now doubly revolted by this cold-blooded monster. he became something of an obsession with her—living as she was by then in exile with my father, isolated from her family who were still living on the island. as my sisters and i were growing up, trujillo and his excesses figured in many of my mother’s cautionary tales. what is the central idea in this paragraph? a. during her exile, the author’s mother did not know how she felt about trujillo. b. the author and her sisters were fascinated by trujillo. c. the author’s mother thought of trujillo constantly. d. trujillo became more controlling to the author’s mother after her family fled the country.

The correct answer is C. The author’s mother thought of Trujillo constantly.

Explanation:

In the text presented the narrator describes the mother first "innocently revered" Trujillo which means she admired him first, but then thought about him as "cold-blooded monster" and also, the author states "He became something of an obsession with her" and "Trujillo and his excesses figured in many of my mother’s cautionary tales", which shows the mother of the narrator has negative feelings towards Trujillo as she considers he is a monster, but on the other hand she is obsessed with Trujillo and spokes about him constantly to her daughters that means she follows Trujillo actions and he is always in her mind. Therefore,  the central idea in this paragraph is that "The author’s mother thought of Trujillo constantly".

"the sandy walls seemed to collapse in on themselves"

and

"the bloodshot waters seemed to have no bottom"