Aquiles By Amelita

Carmelita utilizes beauty as a form of power in conjunction with her bold actions to construct a self-identity despite gender imposed basis. With this short story the audience is introduced to four main characters Including Carmelita and Aquiles, and it's through their interactions that the reader is able to notice the superior strength in Carmelita than in Aquiles. While running away from Divina Merced Carmelita is seen “Laugh[ing]again at her transformation of her own once fearful and fastidious self” and the when “ Aquiles showed fatigue she enticed him on with snatches of song” (Mena 98). Here the audience sees the transformation from a demure and noble lady into an Amazonian she utilizes tools associated with the weaker sex such as singing

At one point in the short story their names are intertwined as “Carmelita and her Aquiles” the possessive pronoun creates a higher sense of respect for the female, when in actuality this time period subjugates women. Then Aquiles “looked at her with eyes reflecting the wonder of a miracle,” . Mena creates references to classical tragic love stories like Paolo and Francesca, and just before this reference Carmelita “wove a wreath of narcissus for her loosened hair”. In this case the flower narcissus creates an image of Narcissus who in greek mythology is a son of the river god and is obsessed with beauty, thus a close interaction between Carmelita and the flowers allude to the beauty. Both Carmelita and Aquiles dream of being in “ancient Greece instead of Tamaulipas so that their death would give birth to immortal legends”. As it is the lovers are running away from their home yet now they have a desire to disassociate themselves from Mexico physically and from their

This struggle for national identity arises in a footnote that perceives a possible “symbolic relationship between El Bisco and Don Baltazar” In which El Bisco is Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Baltazar would be either Diaz or the United States. The struggle for national identity is nothing new but I argue that this is more a civil war started because of US intervention. In page 102 the audience is introduced to Don Baltazar as “the son of a Spanish usurer … and dared to oppress honest Mexicans as arrogantly as any patrician of indigenous”. While Don Baltazar may consider himself Mexican it is the recognition of his Spanish descent that draws attention, because of the history and cycle of oppression towards people of indigenous descent. When the Spanish first invaded modern day Mexico and triumphed over the Aztecs and other indigenous tribes, they considered themselves as missionaries, whom then went on to steal the natural resources available from the natives. Despite eventually becoming Mexican, people with light skin recognize their Spanish descent as a tool of power and create an oppressive internalization that results into a Spanish fantasy heritage. Thus constructing a symbol of superiority and power through Spanish