We Are Both the Knife and the Pumpkin
The truth about the heart in "Clap When You Land"
What happens when life cuts deep?
How do we discover who we truly are?
Elizabeth Acevedo opens her book with a Dominican proverb that says "The heart of a pumpkin is only known by the knife." This saying asserts that the true essence of something is only revealed when it is put under pressure, cut open, or exposed. In Acevendo’s novel Clap When You Land, this proverb finds new meaning in the lives of Camino and Yahaira, two girls who live worlds apart but are bound together by a secret they didn’t know existed.
At the beginning of Clap When You Land, Camino and Yahaira are living separate lives, unaware of each other. Camino, in the Dominican Republic, dreams of joining her father in New York, seeing him as the key to a better future. Yahaira, in New York, has a complicated relationship with him, torn between love and resentment. When their father dies in a plane crash, their worlds collide, and a shocking truth is revealed—they are sisters, daughters of a man who lived a double life. This truth results in the blend of anger, confusion, and betrayal they feel as their worlds collide.
“We are angry at him.
We are angry at ourselves for not knowing about each other.
We are angry at the world for pulling us apart and for pushing us together.”
The proverb about the pumpkin speaks directly to this moment of discovery. The "knife" here is the tragedy of their father’s death, slicing through the image they had of him and revealing a hidden heart full of secrets. Neither sister truly knew the man they loved, and only after he passed away do they come to understand the full extent of who he was. The shock is painful, but it’s also necessary for them to confront the truth—about their father and, ultimately, about themselves.
"Truths are contradictory.
The people we love may be flawed, but that doesn’t mean we love them less.
It means we love them more because we love them in their entirety."
Love and truth are complex. Even those we care about the most have flaws, and accepting difficult truths is part of growing emotionally and understanding the world.
While the knife of truth exposes the flaws, it also reveals the strength and resilience. Camino and Yahaira are thrown into a whirlwind of grief and confusion. They struggle with feelings of betrayal, anger, and sadness—but through it all, they find strength in one another. Their relationship, once nonexistent, becomes the heart of their healing.
The proverb reminds us that sometimes we only truly understand ourselves when we are tested. Camino, who initially sees herself as fragile and dependent on her father, realises that she is strong enough to carve her own path. Yahaira, who has distanced herself emotionally from her father, learns that vulnerability and connection are not weaknesses, but sources of power.
“I am both the knife and the pumpkin.
I am the one who decides how I will be cut.”
As Camino and Yahaira come to terms with the truth, they also come to terms with each other. At first, the discovery that they are sisters adds to their sense of betrayal—how could their father keep such a secret? But as they begin to bond, they realise that they share more than just blood. They share a deep connection, forged not only by their father but by their shared experience of loss and confusion.
“We are stitched together by the same thread of loss,
and that makes us family.”
In a world that often pits people who are similar against each other, Clap When You Land offers an important counter-narrative.
“We are each other’s answers,
the pieces of the puzzle that make sense of all this.”
Instead of rivalry, Camino and Yahaira find strength in their sisterhood. Instead of competing or feeling divided, they come together, demonstrating that love and solidarity can heal and create a sense of wholeness. The heart of the pumpkin—broken open by tragedy—becomes whole again through the love and solidarity they build together.
Clap When You Land is a story about identity, family, and the power of facing the truth. Camino and Yahaira are being transformed into loving and strong individuals. The proverb, "The heart of a pumpkin is only known by the knife," reminds us that it is through life’s most challenging moments that we come to understand ourselves and those around us.
Every person reading this book is reminded that it’s okay to feel cut open sometimes. Life will test us, and the truth will not always be easy to face. But as Camino and Yahaira show us, even when the knife of truth cuts deep, it also reveals the beauty and strength inside.
"The world does not have to end for us to begin again."
The heart is resilient. It may be hidden beneath layers of uncertainty or fear, but even in the face of hardship, there is always the possibility of emerging stronger and starting anew.
In the end, Clap When You Land leaves us with a message of hope: the truth may hurt, but it can also heal. And through that healing, we find our truest selves—strong, vulnerable, and ready to face the world, together.
