Making a Fresh Start in The Oxcart “La carreta”, by René Marqués

520 Words2 Pages

The Oxcart In the award winning play The Oxcart “La carreta”, by René Marqués is about a Puerto Rican family trying to escape poverty by moving to a more prosperous place. The Characters of the Oxcart are: Doña Gabriela who is a widow and the mother of Juanita and chaguito and also the stepmom of Luis, she is very strong woman. Juanita her daughter in the other hand stars off as a docile person whoever after something tragic happens to her she then becomes this strong defying character and eventually she becomes a prostitute. Chaguito is a very naughty boy he loves that streets and hates school he is extremely disrespectful. Don Chago is the father of Luis and Doña Gabriela’s husband he’s the typical and traditional man who won’t leave behind his place of origin. Luis, Doña Gabriela’s stepson, he is the head of the household; he works very hard but eventually dies coincidentally while working. Those are the primarily characters of the Oxcart then we have the others such as Lidia, whose Juanita’s friend while living in New York, we also have Lito, who is a family neighbor while they are living in San Juan, we also have Germana, the nosey neighbor. Matilde who is the one that encourages Juanita to enter the world of prostitution, and then we have Paco, a radio personality that meets Juanita in New York and ask her to marry him. There is also Mr. Parkinton an American preacher and lastly Doña Isabel, a former teacher and Luis’ fiancé’s aunt that also has a brief affair with him The first chapter begins in their home while the family is packing and preparing everything to go to the San Juan metropolitan area to have a better life. The family flees to the capital in search of a superior lifestyle because the adverse situations had created curdle tense atmosphere and a distressing environment. The second act is when the family arrives in San Juan and they are living in La Perla. Not everything was as they expected, Luis who was the only one that was economically supporting the family lost his job. Juanita, who was the daughter of Doña Gabriela, left her job because she had been raped and she even try to commit suicide. Luis found a job but he had a problem with his fiancé’s aunt to whom he have had previously sexual relationships with. His fiancée’s aunt gives him money to depart to New York encouraging him that he would be better off in the United States.

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