The family is one of the most important institutions in society. Family influences several aspects of a person's life, such as religion, values, morals and behavior. Unfortunately, problems can arise when an individual's belief system or behavior does not match that of family standards. As a result, individuals may be forced to suppress their emotions or avoid acting in ways that are not acceptable to the family. In the novel The Rain God, written by Arturo Islas, we are presented with the story of a matriarchal family facing various conflicts. One of the main internal conflicts is repression. Throughout the novel the characters behave in strange ways and many family members have internal "monsters" that represent the past they are repressing. In his article, “The Historical Imagination in The Rain God and the Migrant Souls of Arturo Islas,” Antonio C. Márquez implicitly states the true idea that The Rain God is a story about repression. Marquez's idea can be supported by an analysis of secondary sources and a reading of the primary text. In his article, Marques implicitly argues that The Rain God is a story about repression. His idea is expressed through historical imagination, which Márquez describes as the recreation of the “weight of history,” which represents the characters' past that caused their repression. Their past has become a burden because the Angel family cannot free themselves from the repression that their history is creating. In his article, the idea of ​​historical imagination can be seen in the following way: "The role of the commentator is entrusted to Miguel Chico, an internal historian who remembers, reformulates, evaluates and seeks an understanding of the events of his family history." This quote......center of paper......vel The Rain God is a story about repression. Works Cited Gonzales-Berry, Erlinda. “Sensuality, repression and death in The Rain God by Arturo Islas.” Bilingual Review 12 (1984): 258-261. Islas, Arturo. The god of rain. New York: Harper Collins, 1984. Marquez C, Antonio. “The Historical Imagination in The Rain God and Migrant Souls of Arturo Islas.” Melus 19 Theory, Culture and Criticism (1994): 3-16. JSTOR. Network. December 2, 2004Stable article URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/467722Rice, David. “Sinners Among Angels, or the Family Story and the Ethnic Narrator in The Rain God and the Migrant Souls of Arturo Islas.” Harwood Academic 11 (2000): 169- 197. Sanchez E, Marta. "The Rain God of Arturo Islas: An Alternative Tradition." American Literature 62 (1990): 284-304. JSTOR. Network. December 12, 2004. Stable article URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2926917