Critical Reading of ¡Diles que no me maten!
¡Diles que no me maten! A short story by Juan Rulfo, which depicts the reality of a peasant’s life in rural Mexico. This short story is about a farmer who had a disagreement with the landowner after asking if he would be able to share his animals’ food. Due to the refusal the farmer sneaked his animals at night to feed them; however, when the landowner found out he killed one of the farmer’s cattle. As a result, the farmer killed his landowner; consequently he had to hide for over 40 years only to be murdered later on by the landowner’s son. This paper will discuss the following ideas; themes explored in the short story such as family, death and revenge. Then, an analysis of the strong need of survival and the symbolism of corn crops. Continuing to the structure of the short story and what it adds up to the overall understanding of the story. Finally, there will be a conclusion of all the aspects and what findings are reached after reading this short story.
The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost
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it is unmistakable that life situations inspired Juan Rulfo to write this story. He like no other person had a greater understanding of how to portray the theme of family especially missing a father as a role model, death, survival and revenge. Moreover, through the use of local Mexican language it furthermore developed the society in which peasants had to live during the post-revolution. Additionally Juan Rulfo tries to add all five senses in the story forming magical realism and a vivid picture that the readers can understand. Overall, the readers learn a lot about peasant’s approach to life after revolution that the main drive was
The Alvarez lived in a compound on a respected neighborhood surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and the grandparents, and were a very well establish family as a result of “benefitting from their support of the people in power” during the revolution against the Haitians (“Julia Alvarez”). In her novel, ...
Desert Blood, a book by Alicia Gaspar De Alba, is considered to be a mystery novel that covers a seventeen year crime wave. Specifically, the author has focused on the Juarez femicides issue whereby femicide is defined as the murder of females just because they are women. However, in this case, the Juarez victims are the poor and young Mexican females that were murdered because they were poor. The protagonist of this story is Ivon Villa, a professor that focuses on women studies while the antagonists are Silvia Pasquel, Natalia Stregnard and Zabaleta. This paper will therefore focus on the plot summary and analysis of the novelwhile pinpointing the main parts of the story.
A warped and twisted childhood: Tayo, the half-breed neither the people of his unknown father or the Laguna people of his mother wanted him—he represented the evil destruction brought upon the people of the desert by the greed of the white man; who took without any regard of the ‘mother’ raping and pillaging the earth destroying her off-spring to feed the armies of Mexican and white laborers taking from the land trees, minerals, and killing her animals. Tayo’s first years were horrible living in cardboard and tin shacks—when his mother was not selling her body and soul for a bottle of booze. “They found their own places to sleep because the men stayed until dawn. Before they knew how to walk, the children learned how to avoid fists and feet” (Silko, 100). ...
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
... family traditions because they are innocent and fragile compared to men, therefore dramatizing the effects of the ‘inhuman’ traditions. A maternal bond is a very crucial component of one’s life; therefore by disrupting the usual aspect of one’s life, the authors are sending their message in a strong manner. Furthermore, the ending of both novels imply a necessity for social improvement in their societies as the protagonists have to detach themselves from their repressive mothers, who represent the authorities of the old generation with their overbearing attitudes, in order to pursue their own dreams, whether it is for education, career, or love. After the protagonists break away from their mothers, Tita chases her love for Pedro and Hang leaves the country, abandoning all the traditional traditions, to continue with her college education and occupation in Russia.
To begin with, the opening scene of Riso amaro introduces this dichotomy between consumerism and worker solidarity. In fact, even the opening title helps establish that, reading “man has sought two things since the dawn of time – food and love.” In this scenario, food obviously connects to the basic needs of the workers, while love carries the connotation of the artificial sentiment of photo-romances. Followi...
In the book, the author uses the history of the Mirabal sisters as well as her writing expertise to paint her own narrative that accurately describes the culture the Mirabal sisters live in. The author uses many different writing elements like convention, imagery, and change in point of view throughout the story to deeply describe the life of the Mirabal sisters. Each chapter the point of view changes between the sisters, by doing that Alvarez tells every side of the sisters live in
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In Esperanza’s neighborhood, compliant women are trapped by their husbands and over- come with feelings of low self worth and insecurity. In the vignette “No Speak English,” Esperanza describes the arrival of Mamacita, a mother who is forced by her husband to leave her homeland and move to Mango Street. Troubled by Mamacita’s solitude, Esperanza explains, “She sits all day by the window and play the Spanish radio” (Cisneros 77). Mamacita, forced to leave her home, feels overcome with feelings of seclusion and sorrow. In submitting to her husband’s will, Mamacita illustrates the powerlessness and vulnerability of women. Similarly, Rafaela, another woman imprisoned in her house on Mango Street, is discontent with her submission to her husband’s wishes.
Throughout the story, the main character Antonio is pulled in two directions as far as which family he will be more like. His future career paths are also discussed but it is mostly emphasized that the men will be the main influences in helping his decision while the women play more of a supporting role. Ultima, the main female character, is of great importance to Antonio but the author also emphasizes the importance of the time Antonio spends with his uncles and the huge influence his older brother’s actions have on him. Antonio’s father comes from people on el llano, a rough people. The book opens with discussions of how the lifestyle of the vaquero is a way of life that goes back in to ancient times, which perpetuates this idea that is a rite of passage a becoming of a man is to take on this vaquero way of life. This basically serves to remind Antonio that to choose his mother’s dream would be choosing something feminine. Antonio’s father had greatly hoped his three sons would move with him to California to begin a new life. This also serves to further the idea that men should fall in to their traditional roles as sons and take up the way of their father. Antonio’s brothers encourage their father’s idea but don’t believe in it because they want freedom. Antonio’s father is also used as almost a weight on Antonio in
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