Analysis Of Helena Maria Viramontes Cariboo Cafe

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In Helena Maria Viramontes’ “Cariboo Cafe” she reveals three different experiences her characters face that deals with the nature of fear by describing the domination of foreigners. There is a clash between culture and race throughout the three sections of stories by describing vulnerability through the trauma of two fearful siblings walking on their own through their dangerous environment, discovering the cook’s true personal identity, and endless fight of a mother who loses her child from authority that abuses their power. The first section of “Cariboo Cafe” Viramontes uses imagery to explore the fear the siblings have walking alone into the environment that threatens their safety. The siblings were taught rules from their father that the “La Migra is in disguise and thus should always be avoided”. (65) The two children are facing a dangerous situation of potential deportation, or much worse and this describes their everyday rule that has no sympathy for a second chance to walk freely if the siblings were ever caught. Viramontes uses the oldest child perspective of fear when “red sirens flashed in their faces and shielded her eyes to see …show more content…

This man represents a introduction that the working class struggles to claim good intentions towards immigrants. The cook shows his qualities as a hard worker who only wants to feed his people, the good and the bad. The situation sours when immigrants go to his cafe making him responsible to call the police on them since Viramontes describes him as “the sort of guy I am. Honest.”(68) Viramontes describes the cook’s character as someone going through a cultural identity crisis which is forced onto him and weakens his “good” identity by showing that he is “supposed to call the cops.” (71) because he follows his culture. This proves the involvement of privilege can affect personal

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