Viramontes often uses her works as witness to history, or as a voice for those who do not have a public platform upon which to speak (see, e.g., her short story "The Cariboo Cafe," (in "The Moths and Other Stories" 65–82) her novel, "Their Dogs Came with Them" and the article "Xicanismo"). In interviews she evinces a longtime commitment to civil rights. Her commitment to rights is not abstract, since Viramontes' own parents harvested grapes during her youth. The novel likewise reflects Viramontes' feminism in her creation of strong female characters. Of these, Carballo and Giles report, "Women in this novel rescue themselves."