Bone: Role Reversals and Family

          There were many interesting aspects of Leila's family, and felt that it was a large theme of the book. Family ties, omens, relationships, mishaps all seemed to be key to the story. If someone was making good on the family name, then someone was else was shaming it.
           It is mentioned that Leon and Ona had a strong bond, and that he was much closer to her then the other sisters. While we do not see this as much as we see his interaction with Leila, we can assume that his relationship with Ona was much different. It is ironic that then she is the one that betrays him and dates the son of his new enemy after the business mishap. It seems that everyone Leon loves, (Ona and Mah) hurt him in the end. Before Leon is given the chance to fix things with Ona she moves out and eventually takes her life.
          This is not the only relationship faulted by Ona's death. It is also mentioned that Ona and Nina have a much better relationship then the other combinations of sisters. This points toward the fact that Leila has a different father, which makes her relationship with her family different. Ona and Nina's relationship is also traumatized with Ona's death, therefore Nina eventually leaves for New York. This leaves Leila with no sisters to lean on for support or to help with her family.
          This now leads us to see Leila's role reversals with her parents. She abandons her husband to move in and take care of her mother. The role reversal is also characterized by her mother's "irresponsible" affair  and affirms this switch. She also takes care of Leon as she tries to figure out his paperwork and occupation. This also emphasizes Leila's role as an impromptu parent while she ironically has no children of her own, and also does not have a relationship with her real father.