Critical Analysis Of The Curandera

Analysis of the Curandera The difficult of being in a minority culture in the United States stems from the many divisions of social rank. People are often categorized by race, gender, and sexuality, and then valued through a standing practice of measuring what is preferred or ideal. Through misguided judgment, the individuals who do not represent a popular culture image struggle with a battle between who they are and who society wants them to be. A chapter from Chicana Art: The Politics of Spiritual and Aesthetic Altarities titled “Spirit/Glyphs” addresses struggles faced by the mestiza, or someone of two cultures, and the spiritual separation that occurs from being integrated into American culture. The author, Laura E. Pérez, argues that

The narrator originally felt as if her hands were a burden as they could not perform the tasks that her sisters’ delicate hands could. This class has taught about the unfair treatment Chicanas receive for not only being Hispanic, but also being female. In patriarchal societies, females are often ridiculed for not being able to perform womanly tasks. Viramontes addresses this dilemma by using the narrator as a symbolic character who finds purpose in her flaws. The hands that were made fun of for being unable to perform delicate tasks were molded into hands used for labor. Viramontes is presenting to her audience that the different aspects of an individual can be empowering, and it is how one interprets purpose. Curanderas have the role of spiritual healing, but also the role of empowering women of color. Through the narrator, Viramontes takes a common hardship faced by Hispanic females and shapes purpose out of

The short story aims to push the audience to think in a new way. Viramontes wants her readers to extract more from The Moths than just a story of a Hispanic female achieving spiritual awareness; she wants her readers to experience that spiritual awareness as well. The objective of the short story is to allow the reader to grow as the character does. A moment of awakening occurs for the narrator at the end of The Moths. After her grandmother has passed, the narrator gets in the tub and begins to weep. “I cried, rocking us, crying for her, for me, for Amá” (pg. 307). This line shows the acceptance of loss, acceptance of suffering, and an inevitable moving forward. The narrator experiences “sadness and relief” all at once. Viramontes is showing the final progression of the character. As the character transforms, Viramontes allows the reader to see into the inner workings of struggle, oppression, and neglect, and how someone can break through and become a more enlightened version of their past self. This is a role of the curandera; to allow art to be a cultural capital and move someone