After finishing the bad girl I couldn't help but only feel sorry for Ricardo and not the bad girl herself. It was almost impossible to feel any remorse for her at all seeing as how she continuously manipulated and lied to Ricardo (and many, many others). Throughout the whole story, Ricardo would keep taking her back no matter the scenario - because he loved his image of her. In my last response I spoke about how Ricardo's mind was lying and manipulating him more than the bad girl was. He saw her as this almighty figure that if he could obtain, then he would forever be happy.
I know realize that is why he kept after the bad girl. She was what he could never have. Like when someone says, "don't look behind you," ALL you want to do is look behind whereas only a few seconds ago you couldn't care less. Once you desire something, you become obsessed and lose all reason. This is what happened to Ricardo.
At the end of the novel, the two are once again in each other's arms. The bad girl is sick, however, and dying yet Ricardo still takes her back. I think they both see each other as vulnerable in their own eyes. The bad girl sees Ricardo as a man that can be by her side when she finally dies and Ricardo sees the bad girl as finally needing him and unable to continue without him. Therefore when she inevitably dies I am wondering if Ricardo's true state of mind (not his desire) is lamenting the loss of the bad girl, or relieved that he no longer has their un-liftable weight on his shoulders.
I found the last line of the book particularly interesting. The bad girl tells Ricardo that she has given him a good story for a novel, which made me think that she is trying to gain her place in history from the grave! She is manipulating her way right through purgatory! I feel like that "un-liftable weight" was thrown right back on Ricardo for now his desire for her has turned into making their whole undesirable love story into... a love story?
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