In the story “Never Marry a Mexican” Sandra Cisneros discusses the theme do not look for someone that can hurt you and be careful what you choose because it can damage you. Sandra Cisneros the author of the book Woman Hollering Creek and Clemencia the main character of the story” Never Marry a Mexican” teach us about culture in one way. I choose some main ideas that can relate to the story “ Never Marry a Mexican” one of the main ideas is love yourself for you. Another main idea is do not do what someone showed you and the last one is she was broken from the inside but didn't show it. My thesis statement is think before you act because what you choose determines what happens next. Clemencia the protagonist did not love herself for who she was. Clemencia, who is a Mexican American is straddling two different cultures. She feels like she doesn't belong in any social class. In the story Clemencia the protagonist stated that “ They've …show more content…
This can relate to the story “Never Marry a Mexican” in different ways. An evidence from the story the protagonist Clemencia said “That man she met at work, Owen Lambert the foreman at the photo-finishing plant who she was seeing while my father was sick”(73). In other words her mother plays a really big part in her life because of her mother's cheating on her father while her dad was bedridden and sick. This was Clemencias’s example at an early age that having an affair would be okay. Later in the story Clemencia and Drew who was the man she was having the affair with stop seeing each other and years past and Clemencia seduces the son of Drew . In the story she stated “All I know is I was sleeping with your father the night you were born, in the same bed you where you were conceived”(76). To rephrase she was now sleeping with Drew's son she thought it was okay because her mother had an affair with a white man while her dad was sick and she might of wanted
She talks about all the odd handyman jobs he worked. Hernández talks about her father’s drinking problems and her struggles to understand her father. As she got older Hernandez began to understand her parents and in her father’s case began to try and come to terms with how she was treated and accept and forgive. Hernandez grew up in a home where her parents wanted what was best for her, yet wanted her to conform to her ethnic culture. Her whole life Hernandez was told what she should do and how to be Hispanic.
There is only one person in our lives who loved and protected us from the moment that we born, our mothers. Thinking about that important person, Willie Perdomo wrote the poem “Unemployed Mami” in 2002 as part of the book Postcards of El Barrio (Poetry Foundation 2015). In “Unemployed Mami” and Postcard of El Barrio the author explores the culture, traditions and even the patriarchy that characterizes Puerto Ricans. Moreover, Perdomo shares the life of a son and the life of his beloved unemployed mother, in a time where women stayed at home without having a job, living from what their husbands earn. In order to enjoy and appreciate the content of this poems it is important to discuss what it means, where it takes place and what it tells about Perdomo’s life.
She explains how at a young age she had to help her grandma and begins to recall memories of her grandmother and share them with the readers. Both stories highlight the lives of Mexican women that live in the United States and bring focus to the challenges they face in balancing the expectations of their own culture with those of a different society. The theme of both stories is the cultural struggles along with the ability to maintain their own identities at the same time all while having the pressure weighed on them when fitting society's expectations. Both stories express the gender norms and the oppression that are placed on both women from each story by having Cleofilas be in an abusive marriage and Ana is expected to live up to the religious/cultural expectations set on her. The settings in which the stories take place are important due to the fact that they are both
Olga was the perfect daughter who did not go to college, followed all rules, and put family above anything. While Julia is her complete opposite; troubled, outspoken, and independent, with many dreams of attending college and becoming a writer. Throughout the book, Julia struggles with accepting the role of being a perfect Mexican daughter, handling adolescence and her parents’ high expectations; after all her sister was the one who was the perfect one. However soon she discovers not everything is as black and white as it once seemed and starts to discover the truth behind being the perfect Mexican-American daughter. I am not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sanchez is accurate with its truthful portrayal of the immigrant experience for Mexicans and the unfortunate history they have held when it comes to deportation, it provides a fair understanding of what the Mexican culture truly is and the values they uphold, while also providing a useful depiction of what it means to deal with mental health moreover giving more insight of the life of a teenage girl who is coping with grief and
Clemencia wants men to love her, a Mexican, however she cannot bring herself to love someone like her. This inconsistency in her behavior and narration raises questions about her perception and presentation of herself and her relationships, especially in her relationship with Drew. Clemencia's relationship with Drew, is a reflection of her internalized racism. She sees Drew as a symbol of whiteness and power and believes that by being with him, she can escape the perceived limitations of her Mexican identity by gaining approval and love from a white man. However, this belief for assimilation and acceptance ultimately leads to her own self-destructive tendencies and lack of self esteem.
In Latino culture, machismo behavior is defined by men that see inferiority in people and expect obedience from them (mostly non-male-bodied individuals). This is illustrated when Blanca invites the pastor and Claudia, a woman from church, to dinner despite Julio’s distaste for it. As a result, Julio snaps at Blanca after her persistent preaching of a church where she is indirectly disrespected and “‘the women are treated as if they were just there to glorify their husbands, their children, and their pastor’” (Quiñonez, 130). Throughout the novel, Blanca is presented as a pious girl, as if she has not changed from the young schoolgirl that Julio fell in love with when he was young.
Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).
“She had done nothing but reach up to the heat on her mouth and stare at the blood on her hand as if even then she didn’t understand (Cisneros).” Juan Pedro keeps this behavior up. A woman who goes by Felice changes Cleofilas idea on how a woman should be treated and their purpose to society. Felice helps Cleofilas escape her husband and takes her across the border back to Mexico.
It is important for the reader to understand that the timing of when the author introduces the characters. She introduces the neighbors which were depressing names when she was not happy and lonely in her marriage. When she makes up her mind to leave her abusive husband, Felice is introduced. The introduction shows the progression of maturity Cleofilas endures as she gains
In the poem “You bring out the Mexican in me” by Sandra Cisneros, she begins to create a close relation with the reader by addressing the nameless lover as “you”. As Cisneros begins to utilize amplification by repeating “you” in every stanza; she makes an emphasis of the importance that the nameless lover has over her. To begin, by reading the title “You bring out the Mexican in me,” it can be interpreted that the deep emotions of passion that are perhaps hidden, are inevitably brought out to the light by the nameless lover. In the first stanza the word in italics “lagrimas” written in Spanish, translation in English for “tears,” makes the emphasis on the emotional aspect of crying for love.
(Karr, 196) Throughout the text the author quotes her father, and interacts with him through conversation. With her mother she notices specifics in her appearance more than anything; she spends time describing how her mother looks in a passage instead of the conversations she had with her. An example of this is when she is leaving her mother in Colorado, and returning to Texas to live with her father. She says she can’t remember anything during that period of time, “Any talk with Mother after Lecia’s call was siphoned from my head.” Shortly after the instance of lying to the narrator, her mother left on a trip to Mexico, to which she returned with another man who wasn't her father.
Gloria Anzaldúa’s “La Prieta” tell her struggles with identity by talking about prejudices she dealt with while growing up. These prejudices, such as colorism, sexism, and heteronormativity, were not only held by people outside her social groups but within them as well. Anzaldúa goes on to explain the way identity is formed by intersecting factors and not only one aspect of someone’s life therefore denying one factor of identity can cause isolation and self-hatred. The fact that Anzaldúa developed faster than is deemed normal the first struggle in forming her identity.
The adult males are encouraged to marry young women, procreate and increase their family size. Childbearing is highly recommended with relations between people of the same gender is discouraged since it goes against the past and even the present teachings of the Latino community (long, np). Couples are taught their roles and to respect each other in the marriage, which leads to low levels of divorce in such marriages. This can have a great effect if applied to the large American culture, where it can help in shaping the American social life especially the falling institution of
From the man’s perspective, people from different cultures cannot truly “know” each other. On the contrary Ann believes in the power of love. As the argument continues to escalate, Ann begins to wash the dishes at a faster rate. Interracial marriages are notorious for failure, according to her husband. He also expresses his hostility for foreigners to wed, again because they come from different backgrounds.
In the article, “Like Mexicans,” by Gary Soto explained to us how his grandmother gave him bad advice on becoming a barber and good advice on how he should marry a Mexican girl. His grandmother said don’t make the same mistake that her son did marrying an Okies who wasn’t Mexican, black, or Asian. His grandmother addressed him on how she must know how to cook, act like a women not a man, and the third she will tell him when his older on purity of how a Mexican girl should be. He even asked his mother’s advice on whether he should become a barber and marry a Mexican girl. His mom said barbers make good money and if you find a good Mexican girl, marry her of course.