The Theme Of Death In The Walking Dance By Marcela Fuentes

Neal Shusterman once said "Death must exist for life to have meaning." And although some may strongly disagree with this and see death as the exact opposite, I agree with Shusterman. Death plays a large part in someone's life, causing depression and grief. This could change a person tremendously by adapting to life without that loved one and becoming more independent. In this way, death can be positive. In “The Walking Dance,” Marcela Fuentes writes about an outcast husband who doesnt fit into his family, coming together. In “My Mother Pieced Quilts,” Teresa Acosta talks about the memories that were “sewn into” the quilt by her mother. In both texts, death is a positive force because it brings people together and makes people appreciate each other more.

For example, in The Walking Dance, after a day of craziness, he finally feels welcome enough to do the walking dance. I know this because the text says “He was not quick-witted like Frank, nor was he cool like David or Ricky. But he could do the walking dance. He remembered what Aurora had told him. “It’s a dance you can do carrying a bag of groceries.” It was a dance he could do, Gavin decided, even carrying a crying kid.” Another example of death being a positive force is in My Mother Pieced Quilts. In this story, after the writer's mother passed away, it brought her closer to the quilt. I also know this because the poet writes “but it was just that every morning I awoke to these/ october ripened canvases/ passed my hand across their cloth