Manny Hernandez's Parrot In The Oven

Manny Hernandez gives a very genuine account of what it is like to grow up as a minority in a poor, dysfunctional home. He is tempted by many things such as the gang life, but at the same time, he thinks about what type of man he will become. Victor Martinez’s novel Parrot in the Oven explores the life of a Mexican teenage boy, Manny, who has a variety of factors that work against him at times. Receiving almost no real direction from his family, Manny battles with many problems and experiences in life. In Manny’s case there’s a huge influence in culture and race, which isn’t permitting many future opportunities such as education for him. This is how it was like every day for a boy like Manuel Hernandez.
When you have a hard working

mother, a dad with a drinking problem, and many siblings, the family must have a lot of drama. Most of the time, Manny and his family members are always getting into arguments or fights and they just can’t seem to get along with one another.

Sometimes it’s even one of them shooting the other and or getting into useless fights. “From the corner of his eye, he caught the dark clump of Mom running, and ran after her. When she disappeared behind a tree, he froze, shifting his knees, the barrel of the rifle alert and ready. For an instant I caught a glimpse of her tiptoeing away from a tree. Dad saw her too and banged on the bolt arm. She started with a jolt and began running again, ducking and dodging from tree to tree as Dad, frustrated with the loader because it wouldn't eat the bullet, and not wanting her to escape, pretended to lock a bullet in the chamber and level aim, stated in chapter 4, The Bullet, page 59-60. Every day Manny is experiencing new things and learning

how to deal with those types of situations. Not having the proper mind set about many things in life and not knowing between the right and the wrong is not allowing Manny to experience what’s it like to have an like having a loving and caring family. He joined the gang thinking that it was good for him, and that they’re going to be his family and help him with his problems. He was even put in positions to do things he wouldn’t normally do. Loving moments sure can be hard to come by for his family, and I think it’s because of there not being a strong bondage or proper care for Manny. Besides of the handle full of problems the family has, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a positive impact on Manny in life.
In Manny’s life school isn’t a big thing; instead it's kind of just an inconvenience.

Instead of learning Manny spends the day thinking about hot teachers. Education means a lot to Manny’s mother because she knows that getting a good education could make a huge difference in Manny’s life. Manny’s mother wanted him to go to a fancier school, because getting an education never hurt somebody and it could help the family out. “The next day, Mom began thinking about the future. She wanted me to go to a better school across town, where all the white kids got educated. So I grabbed the number 42 bus down Chandler Avenue, walked two blocks to the brown, ivy-rusted walls of my high school, and presented a note from my mom to Mrs. Kingsley, the secretary,” stated in chapter 3, Charity, page 37. In this poor town, schools as well as teachers don’t really care what students do with their education. On the other hand, Mr. Hart, Manny’s old history teacher is very passionate about his students and cares about the students’ long term life. For example, Mr. Hart was staring at Manny's beat-up old shoes during their whole conversation and he clearly just wants to make sure that Manny has what he needs to start school on the right foot. Education was a huge thing that could have gotten him on the right track, but because of the poverty and the careless teachers Manny unfortunately had something else that was holding him

back.

Manny encounters stereotypes about Mexican’s all the time, but he doesn’t let it impact who he really is. He grows up with negative assumptions of his Mexican heritage, throughout the book. Even nasty stereotypes about the white people occur in the book. Manny’s dad despises white people, like Mr. Hart, because he doesn’t trust them. “My dad had it in for white guys like Mr. Hart, who had good jobs and dressed in white shirts and black ties. It didn't matter that he was my teacher and that he was nice enough to give me a ride home. It didn't matter that, for whatever else one could say about him, Mr. Hart was an okay guy. What mattered to my dad was the possible panic I might cause my mom, or worse, that he'd be beholden to some white man for giving his son a ride home. No matter how many sophisticated ways I could turn it over to convince him, nothing would make sense to my dad. Letting Mr. Hart take me home was the worst acid I could have poured into his stomach,” stated in chapter 3, Charity, page 46. Another example of racism would be if you saw a specific race like Mexicans doing something bad, doesn’t mean that all Mexican’s are like that. “Chico once tried out for the basketball team, but he was too short and couldn't dribble to save his life. When scratched from the roster, he blamed Coach Rogers, the basketball and boxing coach. […] Where Chico got the story, I don't know, but he said the coach once caught a Mexican guy frisking around with his daughter and ever since then he didn't like Mexican guys,” stated in chapter 7, The Boxing Match, page 117.