Never Marry a Mexican by Sandra Cisneros

761 Words2 Pages

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. Simply put, Clemencia’s relationship with her mother is "like [she] never had one" (Cisneros 131) especially during the final moments of her sickly father's life. When Clemencia's mom meets a white man during her father's hospitalization, Clemencia's mom instantaneously begins dating him. Why not? Owen Lambert is definitely not Mexican. This action helps disintegrate the previously fragile bond between Clemencia and her mother whilst perpetuating the saying “never marry[ing] a Mexican” that plays subconsciously in Clemencia’s ever-churning mind. Evidently, with what readers presume to be the “man of her dreams”, Clemencia's mother seems to be in her own world as she completely disregards her life with her former husband and their children. This does not bode well for Clemencia as she holds a lot of resentment towards her mother, that will likely never resolve due to the fact that Clemencia's mom is not around in the world anymore. Even though, her mother may not be in this world anymore, Clemencia will always wonder why her mom did marry her father. Clemencia's father originates from Mexico, so her own father views US Mexicans to be not on par with the Mexicans who originate from Mexico. In her father’s opinion Mexican girls “who didn't know enough to set a separate plate for each course at a dinner, nor how ... ... middle of paper ... ...ican" solidifies Clemencia’s whole entity. If she tries to remove that aspect of her personality, a majority of her experiences as individual eradicates from the very center of her being. Cisneros shows how the words/actions of others directly warp a person. This leads people into a negative disposition that swirls down a deep succubus spiral continuing onward until death. Clemencia currently follows this pathway of destruction, yet how Cisneros textually illustrates Clemencia’s multi-breakdown/rant suggests as if Clemencia is searching for a way out. Works Cited Cisneros, Sandra. "Never Marry a Mexican." 1991. More Stories We Tell: the Best Contemporary Short Stories by North American Women. By Wendy Martin. New York: Pantheon, 2004. 126-41. Print. "La Malinche." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. .

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