I am not You Perfect Mexican Daughter follows the story of a young girl named Julia and her many hardships regarding not only family issues but also more personal issues in the form of the relationships she has with others and herself. I chose to add this source as a book club novel because many of the book characters became blinded by grief after the death of Julia’s sister, Olga. Olga’s death was one of the very first things described in the book, as that is what most of the story was built around. Shortly after her death, we start to see the effects of grief on the book’s characters, specifically Julia’s mother who begins to blame Julia for her sister's death. This takes a heavy mental toll on Julia, leading her down a path of depression, …show more content…
She was also blinded by the fact that she wasn’t the only person hurt by her sister’s death. This created severe feelings of loneliness for her to the point where she attempted suicide. She felt alone and like no one was able to understand her, despite being surrounded by people that deeply cared for her. The story ends a bit abruptly. Julia eventually receives the help she needs, goes into university to pursue her dream of being an author and reconciles with her family. She did eventually find out about the secret life her sister was living but decided to keep it to herself as she saw no point in letting anyone else know. Julia as well as other characters in the book were at some point, similar to Pozzo in Waiting for Godot. Pozzo suddenly went blind one day, kind of how grief suddenly blinded Julia and her parents. They were unable to see and deal with the struggles of people around them, so they acted against each other. Pozzo did the same thing. Even after going blind, he still provoked those around him. The biggest difference is that Julia and her family were eventually able to resolve their issues and come together, while Pozzo acted the same way regardless of what came at
The story ‘Norma’ is written by Sonia Sanchez, who describes in the story that how she used to look up to another girl in her school named Norma. Norma was intelligent, attractive, and everything that made a person perfect. But then as they grew up, Norma started doing drugs, and got pregnant while she was still in high school. She got kicked out of school, and wasn’t seen for a long time. Then after a few years, Sonia and Norma met again, and agreed to get together often. After leaving, Sonia vows to herself to never agree again, as she did not accept Norma as her role model anymore.
Undoubtedly, William’s suicide had a devastating effect upon Julia. After William’s death, she decided to move out of the Lavender Suite and into the William Lemp Suite across the hall. Also in late 1905, Julia was diagnosed with cancer. Her final weeks were spent in extreme pain. After becoming bedridden, she requested to be moved back into Lavender Suite. I think she wanted to spend her final days in the same room where her beloved husband took his own life. Julia lost her battle with cancer on April 6,
The book “The distance between us” is the story of immigration written by Reyna Grande. The book recounts her true personal story before and after entering the United States. The story shows how poverty and parenting impacts the family. Grande was 2years old when her dad left her, 4 years old when her mom (Juana) left her and her two siblings (Mago and Carlos) with her grandmother in the Mexico. Since, then she was seeking her parents either her dad or mom in the story. Her illegal and undocumented entry in the United States depicits the struggles and challenges she faced while crossing the border. After she arrived in the United States she found that living in the U.S was not that easy what she has dreamed for and “The man behind the glass” was not like that what she had met before. Her siblings were angry because of their not supportive mother and abusive father which weaken their intimacy in the family. Instead, Mago her elder
In the short story “Norma” by Sonia Sanchez, a girl named Sonia looks up to a fellow classmate by the name of Norma. While in middle school, Norma hated French and since Norma hated french, and so did Sonia but only because norma didn't like it. Norma got kicked out of out of high school because she got pregnant. After Sonia graduates from college she sees how much Norma's life had taken a turn and no longer looks up to her. sonia saw that Norma had four children and did a lot of drugs. Sonia agreed to meet Norma again someday, but then left and agreed never to agree again. Sonia agreed never to agree again because, she had always looked up to and agreed with Norma, but now Sonia sees and understands that Norma has ruined her life. To begin with, Sonia always did what Norma did and tried to be like Norma as much as she possibly could.
Just as their father wanted, the girls kept their Dominican roots alive and never forgot where they came from. This novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, is a coming of age novel, where four girls learn through experience how it is like to grow up in a tough time period. In America, the girls had the freedom to attempt almost whatever they wanted because they were free from the constricting rule of the patriarchy that ruled the Dominican Republic. All four were growing up but took separate paths during life to get to where they are as adults. Through the use of multiple narrators, Alvarez creates different perspectives throughout the story. The girls have come a long way from their mother’s color coding system when they were identity less to the women they are today. Each sister fought and conquered some sort of internal or external battle, helping them to overcome obstacles given by society that marked them as different. As adults, the sisters can keep their Dominican roots alive while living in the United States through
In “Confetti Girl”, the narrator disagrees with her father and questions how much he cares about her and in “Tortilla Girl”, the narrator questions if her mother was taking her into account of her new plans. Tension is shown to be caused in the stories “Confetti Girl” and “Tortilla Sun” due to the parent and narrator not having the same point of view. In this story, a young girl named Izzy lives alone with her mother. One day, the mother surprises her by explaining that she is going to Costa Rica to do some research, and that Izzy is going to her grandmother’s house while she is away.
“I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter”, by Erika L. Sanchez is a novel of shattering stereotype, Mexican teenager coming-of-age. Introducing Julia Reyes, fifteen-year-old teenager who desperately wants to go to college She’s a very outspoken sarcastic feminist with big dreams and a real hunger for art. The daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants Ama and Apa, living in a apartment infested with roaches. She’s filled with anger almost all the time and perpetually bitter because she is poor. Suffering from the loss of her prude older sister, Olga, who died by being run over by a semi-truck. Julia battless with the death of her sister Olga, her parents are having a challenging time with Julia not wanting to be a perfect Mexican daughter. However, for Julia her life needs more than being your traditional Mexican daughter have a good office job, marrying a Mexican, raising children, and preparing tortilla until the day she dies. In which, Ama struggles with daily, on why Julia just can’t be perfect like her dead sister Olga. Even though families are based on culture and
In “I Want to Be Miss America,” Julia Alvarez examines her adolescent struggle to be “American.” For Alvarez, her Hispanic culture becomes a burden to her inclusion in American society. So, Alvarez and her sisters, struggle to become what they are not, Americans. Alvarez uses a somewhat biased stereotype to identify the model of an ideal American, but she does make clear. The struggle of all American teenagers to fit into or molded by a standard which for many of them is impossible to achieve.
It sometimes is quite difficult to find one’s voice when no one is truly listening or understands. Yolanda, or "Yo", a Dominican immigrant, has grown up to be a writer and in the process infuriates her entire family by publishing the intimate details of their lives as fiction. “¡Yo!” is an exploration of a woman's soul, a meditation on the writing life, as well as a lyrical account of Latino immigrants’ search for identity and a place in the United States. Julia Alvarez divides her novel ¡Yo! into chapters to distinguish the perspectives of each member of the Garcia family. Through the stylistic, subtle homage to the Spanish language as well as speaking on the horrors that occurred during the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez showcases storytelling in the first chapter of her novel titled “From ¡Yo! The Mother” to show how Yo and her entire family used it to cope with their struggles as immigrants in America. By telling stories, Yo’s mother Laura, battles between her Dominican and American identities to ultimately redefine not only who she is, but also who she and her family will be.
Sandra Cisneros’s “Never Marry a Mexican” introduces readers to Clemencia. Cisneros eludes Clemencia as a woman who appears proud of her Mexican heritage, yet knows not how the slanderous phrase “Never marry a Mexican” uttered from her well-meaning mother’s trusty lips about Clemencia’s own Mexican father negatively foreshadows her seedy life and gloomy world perspective later down her destructive journey of adulthood.
Marie-Laure’s life changed when at the age of six she went blind, causing her to become very dependent on the people around her. Her father tried to make her life as
From an early age Jane is aware she is at a disadvantage, yet she learns how to break free from her entrapment by following her heart. Jane appears as not only the main character in the text, but also a female narrator. Being a female narrator suggests a strong independent woman, but Jane does not seem quite that.
While at Lowood, a state - run orphanage and educational facility, Jane’s first friend, Helen Burns, teaches her the importance of friendship along with other skills that will help Jane grow and emotionally mature in the future. She serves as a role model for Jane. Helen’s intelligence, commitment to her studies, and social graces all lead Jane to discover desirable attributes in Helen. Helen is treated quite poorly, however, “her ability to remain graceful and calm even in the face of (what Jane believes to be) unwarranted punishment makes the greatest impression on the younger girl” (Dunnington). Brontë uses this character as a way to exemplify the type of love that Jane deserves. This relationship allows Jane to understand the importance of having a true friend. Given Jane’s history at Gateshead, finding someone like Helen is monumental in her development as a person. Helen gives through honest friendship, a love that is
It was about two years ago when I arrived in United States of America, and I still remember the day when I left my native country, Honduras. As I recall, one day previous to my departure, I visited my relatives who live in San Pedro Sula. They were all very happy for me to see me except my grandmother Isabel. She looked sad; even though she tried to smile at all times when I was talking to her, I knew that deep inside of her, her heart was broken because of my departure the next morning. I remember that I even told her, “Grandma, do not worry about me, I’ll be fine. I promise that I will write you letters and send you pictures as much as possible.” Here reply was, “I know sweetie I know you will.” Suddenly after she said that I started to cry. For som...
...Halevi-Wise, Yael (1997). Story-telling in Laura Esquivel's Como Agua Para Chocolate. The Other Mirror: Women’s Narrative in Mexico, 1980-1995. Ed. Kristine Ibsen. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997. 123-131.