In this passage by Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez recalls the interactions between his family on Christmas Day. Rodriguez’s usage of language and his choice of details reveal the distance can be created by the American dream of material success. Throughout the passage, language and details showcases how wealth has distanced Rodriguez's siblings from their family. At the beginning of the passage, Rodriguez explains that all of his siblings are “well off”. When all of the siblings come over for Christmas, the floor is “wreathed with gifts”. While the family is unwrapping their gifts, the room becomes eventually “uncomfortably warm”. The unwrapping of presents on Christmas day is usually a very joyous event. During this time, families enthusiastically watch each other open gifts, anticipating …show more content…
everyone’s reactions to the gifts. However, Rodriguez describes the atmosphere in the room as being uncomfortably warm, indicating that the siblings are uncomfortable around each other instead of enjoying each other’s company.
Even though they probably spent a substantial amount of money on the gifts, Rodriguez's siblings do not seem to care whether or not their family members like their gifts. Additionally, one of the siblings “groans” after somebody asks if anyone wants any refreshments. The person’s groan suggests that they are miserable around their other family members. The siblings should be happy to be celebrating together, but they are more interested in getting back to their personal lives. As the siblings leave the house and head into the dark towards their “expensive foreign cars”, one of them shouts “Don’t come out” at either their mother or father as it is too cold outside. Rodriguez could not tell if the person was addressing his mother or father. The person did not even turn around fully to address them as they were in such a rush to get home. Although they told their parents that it is too cold for them to come outside, the person probably just wanted to leave the home as quickly as possible. In addition, expensive cars are parked in the dark. The image of the cars in the dark associates darkness with
the the sibling’s wealth. At one point, Rodriguez observes his sister, wearing her “shiny mink jacket”, “bend slightly” to kiss their mother before rushing” down the front steps.” His sister does not spend a lot of time saying goodbye to their mother. Rodriguez utilizes language and details to highlight how the American dream of material success negatively impact his parent’s relationship with their children. While everyone is preparing to leave the house, Rodriguez’ mother waves to goodbye “to no one in particular” by the door. None of the children are waving back at their mother. Rodriguez also notices that his mother looked “very small” and “worried.” When a person feels really small, it usually means that the person feels unimportant. Rodriguez's mother feels very insignificant as she watches all of her children rush to their cars. Rodriguez’s siblings consider their career obligations more important than their relationships with their mother. His mother realizes that her family is growing apart, but does not know how to change the family’s current dynamic. She worries that the family will eventually become completely detached. Although the siblings are not waving back at her, she continues to wave at them in a desperate attempt to gain her children’s affection again. Once Rodriguez’s mother notices his father outside without a coat, she asks him to place a coat over his shoulders. As Rodriguez puts the coat on over his father, he feels “the thinness of his arms.” Rodriguez’s usage of language and details displays his own feelings towards the distance within the family. While the family is opening gifts together, Rodriguez notices that the family is
The almighty American dream, commonly misconceived as the property of those who reap great materialistic wealth, has been analyzed and sought after through generations. However, this dream, “could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country” (Goldberg), and the numerous success stories of impoverished beings proves this. This subjectiveness stems from the great diversity within human nature and the variation of goals and pleasures. The characters in novels such as The Glass Castle, To Kill a Mockingbird and the play, The Crucible, act to portray several attempts towards achieving this dream. Ultimately, the almighty American Dream manifests itself through the novels as the desire to accomplish stability and content within one’s
The Carrillo Adobe is in a dire situation. It has not only fallen into disrepair from the many years of weather and use by so many individuals, but by visitors and citizens have been less that kind and considerate of its age and the prominence that it deserves. After Carrillo’s death her house was given to three of her daughters, Marta, Juana, and Felicidad. Then her belongings were distributed between all of her children. In the first decade after her death her different children each occupied the house at different times. One of her daughters, Juana and her husband ran the home as a tavern. They then converted the adobe into the first post office in the town of Santa Rosa. After her daughters no longer had a need for the adobe it was turned into a trading post where numerous individuals...
Using the detail,“Dinner threw me deeper into despair,” conveys the painful feelings caused by her family at dinner (Paragraph 5). This detail indicates that Tan was continuingly losing hope that the night would get better. Tan reveals these agonizing feelings to make the reader feel compunctious. In making the reader feel sorry for her, Tan knows she can continue to misreport details in the passage without being questioned. The detail,“What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners,” emblematizes the dishonor Tan feels towards her relatives and cultural background (Paragraph 2). This detail implies that due to Tan’s attraction to Robert, she will detract her feelings of others to better her relationship with Robert. Tan used this detail to reveal that if Tan cannot better her relationship with Robert, she will become despondent. As a result of distorting details, the passage illustrates Tan’s dishonorable feelings towards her cultural
Is it possible to make vital life changes to become a better person at heart? Who’s the one that can help you? The only person that will get you up on your feet is yourself, and you have to believe deeply to make those changes. In this essay there are many main points that are being brought across to explain the problems and wisdom that arose from Baca’s life as an inmate. It talks about how he was grown up into an adult and the tragedies that he had to face in order to become one. Later I fallow steps that lead to the purpose and rhetorical appeals of Baca’s essay. The purpose dealt with the cause and effect piece and problem/ solution structure.
The lesson in “Los tres hermanos (The Three Brothers)” involves understanding that the characters involved failed to reflect on the needs of the thirsty, hungry and poor, the lonely, as well as the elderly and are ultimately fairly served by
As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop when they see Rodriguez. Thi...
Christmas Eve dinner came about and it became evident that her family had just about taken mixed race to another level. She had a cousin, Rebecca, that was married with a child and their small family was white and Jewish (Senna 296). Danzy’s sister had three children that were half Pakistani and they lived in England (Senna 296). Her brother was married to a Chinese woman and they had a young daughter together (Senna 296.) Carla Latty, Anna’s orphaned daughter, was cohabitating with an Indian woman. Senna discovered that at this family dinner, some of them are blood related and are just meeting for the first time. She recognizes the history that they all share in some shape, form, or fashion. Yet, it is not a day of rainbows and lollipops. Danzy and her sister have hurt each other and there is tension. Her brother and his wife hide their infant in the bedroom upset that the other children present had infected their baby. Her cousin’s daughter has declared herself as a lesbian at the age of eleven. Despite all of the obstacles and hurdles her family has faced, Danzy considers the Christmas Eve dinner “a victory” (Senna 301). Danzy’s brother says that “Anybody who finds him offensive can get the […] out” about a gift given to his child (Senna 300). That was his way of approving the
Sometimes many similarities can be found between two completely different works of literature. The poem “I am Joaquin'; and the short story “The First Seven Years'; at the same time exhibit both contrasting positions and similar ideals. Even though “I am Joaquin'; is told from Mexican-American perspective while “The First Seven Years'; is told from Jewish-American perspective, similarities are found in both. They tell of the American Dream and of the two mentioned families’ roles and influences as a means of attaining that dream. The roles of the families in these works and each version of the American Dream are based on the same ideals, but involve different methods.
Torres uses the words like “mud” and “horseshit” to reveal how low and unwanted the eldest son feels. When we think of “mud” or “horseshit”, our first reaction would be to step over it or avoid the area that contains it at all costs. In this case, the people avoiding the “horseshit” are their parents. Not only that, but Torres includes the statement “we’re on our own” to further depict how neglectful the parents have been to their sons. Being the oldest, Manny is considered to be the responsible on because it states that., “Paps assumed it was all Manny’s idea because Manny was the oldest and because it was, actually, all Manny’s idea. He didn’t wait to get home but beat Manny right there in the field” (Torres83). Readers can infer that no matter what happens, Manny will always be the father’s “punching bag” whenever the boys would do something bad, which makes him feel unworthy as well. Then there’s Joel, the middle child. In most families, the middle child is never really glorified. It is as if they are a filler or some sort because the eldest child will always be praised for being head of the sibling clan, the youngest can be deemed the “favorite”, while the middle child is just there. Torres shows this by not giving readers the full Joel. Readers don’t know how Joel feels because, he wasn’t taught how to express his emotions, which parents should teach their child. Finally, there is Mijo; the youngest. Mijo,
Literature attempts to shape or reflect society, and oftentimes literature reveals truths and provides insight into the condition of that society. The American Dream is a dominant theme in American literature, and in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the idealistic dream is critically evaluated. In this paper, I will explain the context of the work, and then I will compare and contrast Dick any Perry (the murderers) with the Clutter family (the murdered) in relation to the theme of the fragility of the American Dream.
Initially relieved that she and her husband are alone, Rodriguez’s mother is quickly disappointed, as her husband has left her for another woman. Later in a photograph, Rodriguez sees her mother with a coffee-dark V in the collar area of her neck, proof of hard labor during the Cuban Revolution. Above her head in the photo lies a painting of a saint with no head. After sending her children away in hopes of giving them a better life, Rodriguez’s mother is left working in the hot and sunny cane fields, which marks her with a coffee-colored tan. Rodriguez reveals her family’s Catholic religion through the painting of the saint, but without a head, the painting reveals her mother’s loss in faith due to the its failure to address her and other suffering laborers. With a loss of her faith, husband, and children, Rodriguez’s mother is left with one last person: her mother. However, while Rodriguez looks at the photograph, her
For centuries, the American Dream has motivated citizens of the United States to go above and beyond in their efforts through life, yet not everyone is hoping to reach the same outcome. The stereotypical prosperous dream was for the average individual to have a successful job with a supportive and wealthy family. However, for some, their idealized version of the American Dream is different. Although the American Dream came in variations, a commonality within all of them was the pursuit of happiness. In the epilogue of The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams argues his idea that the American Dream cannot be defined by one type of accomplishment or triumph. He claims that the American Dream cannot be defined by one type of achievement or particular success, reiterating the fact that the dream is not about tangible goods creating a sense of artificial happiness, but every individual seeking to fulfill their utmost potential. Adams saw that the American Dream was eroding into a need for material possessions, causing him to combat the shift and attempt to preserve the original idea. This theory is echoed in Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle. Despite being hindered by
The American Dream provides a uniformed idea of a goal that is seldomly achieved. It includes having a successful job, a healthy family, and happiness achieved through hard work and determination. Those born and raised well with strict parents often attain the American Dream, but those raised with abusive parents that live separately often find the American Dream extremely difficult to achieve. However, this idealistic stereotype can be false. Surprisingly, in the book In Cold Blood by Truman Capote the American Dream poses as a difficulty to maintain and achieve by the Clutter family, Perry Smith, Dick Hickock, and Floyd Wells.
Each character in the novel has their own interpretation of the ‘American Dream – the pursuit of happiness’ as they all lack happiness due to the careless nature of American society during the Jazz Age. The American Dreams seems almost non-existent to those whom haven’t already achieved it.
The Stranger is a captivatingly odd novel that delves into the mind and actions of a French sociopath, Monsieur Meursault. The author, Albert Camus, successfully captures the essence of Meursault in using language and plot organization that cater to his character. The language and plot organization is what makes The Stranger so unique—the language is almost painfully direct and the organization is simple yet expressive of Meursault. However If I were a novelist, I would not organize my story and use the same direct language as Camus did, because the style in which The Stranger is written and organized is specific to the character’s circumstances.