La Perdida

Well......where to begin......
The graphic novel, La Perdida by Jessica Abel left me wanting. I wanted Carla to develop some self esteem. She would just run along after everyone around her like a little lost kitten. I wanted her to have some direction in her life. It seemed as though she did not know what she wanted, who she wanted, or where she really wanted to be.
Carla was lost. Was it companionship that she desired? Did she long for a place to call home. I think that she wanted Mexico to be her identity, but it wasn't. She grew up in the states and did not even speak Spanish. She thought that by crossing the border, she would all of the sudden be Mexican. It just does not happen that way. Cultures clash. The only way to truly know and understand a culture is to be raised in that culture. She was 50% Mexican but 100% Americanized. What caused her strong desire to exemplify her Mexican roots?
Carla's trip to Mexico started out on a bad note. She told Harry, her ex-boyfriend that just happened to live in Mexico, that she was coming for a two week visit. She never actually planned on leaving. I guess she figured that if she slept with him, he would not notice that she had overstayed her welcome. Once Harry started to tire of her, she found yet another bed to hop into. She started to date Oscar, a Mexican that only spoke Spanish. I suppose she thought that this would get her closer to her Mexican roots. What she saw in Oscar; I don't know. He was grumpy, possessive, rude, controlling, and part of a not-so-great crowd. She just wanted to be part of something at that point and she didn't seem to care what.
Carla made one bad choice after another and her life seemed to fly out of control. In the end, she was a prisoner. She was a prisoner of the choices she had made as well as an actual prisoner in her own house. I had a hard time feeling sorry for her, she had brought everything on herself.
Why do females put up with verbally and physically abusive men? Does it have to do with the desire to be wanted, the desire for love?