Moral/Ethical Boundaries or Taboos. The story written by Sandra Cisneros titled Never Marry a Mexican, pushes the reader to explore and test their moral boundaries almost to the brink of disintegration. The biggest example of this is when the narrator is scorned by her married lover. She pursues and seduces his teenage son for vengeance. “I sleep with this boy, their son. To make the boy love me the way I love his father” (187). She is not only carrying on with the son of her former lover, but the boy is a teenager, and her student. This breaks one of our biggest social norms, the violation of the teacher-student relationship. This alone makes it difficult if not impossible to sympathize with her. If we as readers are supposed to connect with …show more content…
this narrator, we need to forget our social norms we are taught from birth. We need to attempt to look past this heinous act, and see the pain that is at the root of her behavior. The perversion of children by an adult in a position of authority is a moral and ethical boundary that almost everyone agrees on. So in the story written by Richard Bausch titled Aren’t You Happy for Me? We are once again asked to look past these issues to understand a character. The young daughter called to tell her parents that she was pregnant and getting married. She also told them that her lover was her former professor, and also forty years her senior. It is not hard to accept the father’s response, “The point is that you, sir, are not much more than a goddam statutory rapist” (92). It’s hard to understand the point of the twenty-two year old daughter, and believe that she is in fact in love with this man. Therefore it is easier to relate to the position of the father. When the father says, “Really now. What’s the policy at the goddam university concerning teachers screwing their students?” (92). As a reader you understand this reaction, because regardless if their relationship began after she graduated it is still hard to accept. The poor choices of characters that stretch our ethics make it hard to be sympathetic towards them. We have to attempt to not react harshly like the father when he says, “What the hell, kid. Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind?” (93). Our initial reaction to things we find distasteful is not always the correct one. The choices that people make when they feel they have no other options can also be hard for people to understand. In the story written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o titled Minutes of Glory presents Wanjiru who chooses a life of prostitution, because she feels that is the only option she has. “ … somehow she had a horror of soliciting lovers or directly bartering her body for hard cash” (559). Wanjiru moved away from her family village into the cities of Kenya and began working as a prostitute. Not only is it difficult to accept her profession but, it is also difficult to accept her reasoning that she has no options when she refused to do what was needed to improve her situation, “…She would not hear of repeating standard seven” (563). Wanjiru’s refusal to try, and her acceptance of a life of degradation prevents us from accepting her as a victim. This forces the reader to look past their moral boundaries in order to understand her situation. The social norms that we learn growing up, are the standard we hold people to. They are the preverbal line in the sand that we as moral and ethical individuals do not cross. So when a character steps across that line it forces us to expand or completely obliterate them altogether. We have to ignore our instincts to dislike this character for her behavior. Intimacy The main character in the story written by Hanif Kureishi, titled Intimacy is in desperate need of intimacy. He is missing this connection with his wife and went looking for this outside of his marriage. Throughout the whole story he is teetering back and forth on the decision to leave his family. However instead of talking with her and expressing his needs he puts unrealistic expectations on her. He expects her to know what he needs without him telling her, “Sometimes I go along with what Susan wants, but in an absurd way, hoping she will see how foolish I find her” (365). He plays games with her, instead of being a good partner and telling his wife what he needs from her. You cannot assume that the person you are with knows what is going on in your head. “I am convinced she can feel my thoughts. If she wakes up, puts out her arms, and says she loves me, I will sink back into the pillow and never leave” (370). If he is pretending that there is not a problem, and if he doesn't tell her what he is missing from their relationship he is not even giving her an opportunity to try to fix the problem. Instead this character finds a newer, younger version to fulfill his needs. “One day a girl walked past me and I wanted her” (363). This is unfortunate for this character, because he will not find the intimacy he is looking for from the new version. Maybe if he opens up to his wife, express himself he might be able to find it in her. He will never know, because he is a narcissist. He feels he is owed intimacy when really it is something you earn with love, respect, and communication. In the story written by Nicola Barker titled G-String the two main characters are in a relationship that lacks affection. Gillian’s boyfriend Mr. Kip, as he likes to be called treats her as if she is inferior. This one sided relationship prevents either one of them from getting the kind of intimacy they need from the relationship. “When Mr. Kip didn't remark favorably on her new dress; when, in fact, he drew a comparison between Gillian and the cone-shaped upstanding white napkins on the fancily made-up Rotary tables, she almost didn't try to smile” (71). It is obvious from this statement that Mr. Kip thinks himself above Gillian. When one person is in a constant state to please the other, one is getting what they want while the other is suffering for it. “Of course she didn't actually say anything. Mr. Kip finally noticed Gillian’s distress … ” (71). Any attentive partner would notice the distress of their companion, and would want to ease their pain. Neither one is benefitting from a healthy relationship, or receiving the intimacy each are really yearning for. In the story written by Deborah Eisenberg titled The Girl Who Left Her Sock on the Floor, the main character Francie is a young girl who is unable to connect with anyone on an intimate level. She did not have intimacy in her relationship with her mother, her mother sent her off to boarding school. However even in her new home she does not connect deeply with anyone, and feels like an outsider, “ … Francie and her mother looked, each in her own way, so unsuitable … ” (237). The lack of connection she feels from those around her isolates her and prevents her from connecting on an intimate level with anyone. Fortunately in the course of dealing with her mother’s death she learns that her father whom she thought was previously deceased is alive. This gives Francie a hope to build a relationship with someone and have that intimate relationship she deserves. “Well, one thing - he wasn't living on the street; she had his address … Whatever he was, at least he was everything except that. And the main thing he wasn’t, for absolute certain, was a guy who’d been mashed by a bus” (243). This is Francie’s chance, to connect to someone. Not just anyone, but her father. He is a chance for her to feel the true intimacy that she deserves. Narrative Monologue / Decorum In the story written by Toni Cade Bambara titled Gorilla, My Love, Bambara writes in the first person from the perspective of a young girl. She also includes regional dialect, she does this convincingly and you believe that you are being retold a story straight from a little girl. This technique is both effective and endearing. You get a vivid image of this character and the setting in which the story takes place, “… her hand shot up to her face like she shame fore the cameras. But there’s a movie house in the background which I ax about” (59). The use of improper grammar creates an image of a child. Most children learn how to learn to use proper grammar later in school, and some do not even use it until they enter a higher level of education. The incorrect conjugation of verbs demonstrates the lack of practice in proper grammar, “So the movie come on and right away it’s this churchy music and clearly not about no gorilla” (59). The incorrect use of verbs can also enhance the setting of the story. It would be safe to assume that this child and her family are from a lower class. One where the adults are not as educated as the children, and are not correcting the children's vocabulary. “You absolutely right Miss Muffin, which also ain’t my real name but the name [Aunt Jo] gave me one time …” (61). The narrator repeating her aunt is even with the same type of errors, meaning that not only is her speech a byproduct of her age but the regional setting. Bambara created a believable character, there was not a time when I thought a child would not say this. The story written by Edwidge Danticat titled Night Women, is a beautifully written story in first person narrative from the perspective of a young mother who works as a prostitute in a lower class part of town.
However regardless of the elegant proses that blend to make this story, it does not sound like it is coming from the voice of the women it is supposed to be. “Love is one of those lessons that you grow to learn, the way one learns that one shoe is made to fit a certain foot, lest it cause discomfort” (196). As elegant as this is, this does not sound like a woman whose only option for work is prostitution. This sentence sounds more like the work of an educated poet. Danticat holds a BA in French Literature and received a Master in Fine Arts in Creative Writing. This story reads from the author’s voice more than the character she has created. A woman living in a one room house trading sex as a living would not weave words in such an exquisite way, “Dreams of angels skipping over his head and occasionally resting their pink heels on his nose” (197). It’s hard to accept that this woman would have the education to form her thoughts in this way. Despite the lack of decorum that this creates for this story, it does not take away from the beauty of it. This is a very well written, but the character is not believable. Had she chosen a different perspective, perhaps third person those poetic words might fit in
better. Sandra Cisneros also chose first person monologue in m her story Never Marry a Mexican. Her unnamed character seems to come from the same socio-economic and educational background as Cisneros, therefore the voice is believable, “ … I work as a translator … I do this in the day, and I night I paint … I work as a substitute teacher too, for the San Antonio Independent School District” (181). The similarities between the author and the character mean that if Cisneros’ voice tends to poke through the character it would be hard to notice. The Character speaks to many people in the story, her married lover Drew, his son, and the reader. The flip back and forth to her target helps create a state of mind for the character. “Drew, remember when you used to call me your Malinalli” (182). “Because your father wanted to leave your mother and live with me” (183). This bounce back and forth is an effective way to demonstrate her state of mind. Cisneros create a believable character, and uses the narrative monologue to help the reader to better understand the character.
...th authors as is nearly always negative. Both authors take the reader within the very small, limiting, and confusing world of migrants, a world defined by an overall physical and emotional segregation. But their separation from Anglos is counterbalanced by their intimacy with their family and community. In both book and article, the families wash, eat, sleep, and work together; in fact they work tremendously hard. Also, the characters value education, although this theme is better developed by Rivera, since his narrative spans a full year, while Bacon is limited only his experience he remembers throughout his interview. In particular, Rivera's historia "It's That It Hurts" presents the complex dilemma faced by migrant children entering racist school systems while carrying the high hopes of their family that schooling will be the children's ticket out of the fields.
In the essay of Mr.Gary Soto, Like Mexicans, we learn about his experiences about falling in love with someone of a different race.Gary’s grandmother would always proclaim: “... the virtues of marrying a Mexican girl: first, she could cook,second, she acted like a woman” (pp.219). Being conditioned into the notion that all Mexican women have been trained to be proper women, Mr. Soto set out on finding his brown eyed girl; however, what love had quite a different plan. As He explains, “ But the woman I married was not Mexican but Japanese” (pp.220). Though he searched to find his Mexican wife, fate had other plans for him. This paper will cover three different themes Gary’s essay: The tone, the mindset of the characters, and the overall message of the piece.
She felt that breaking the standards placed on her by her cultural norms it would displease her tradition loving father. He felt that Cisneros should find a husband and not focus on her education so much. Cisneros writes “I am the only daughter in the Mexican family of six sons” (Cisneros 366). This not only exemplifies the internal family issues of being the only female, but also the external problems of the norms placed on women in a Hispanic culture to be an ideal wife. Tan’s essay emphasized the fact that her race, gender, education and up-bringing played a role in people knowing her writing, even though she does not want it to.
In “Like Mexican” Gary Soto’s grandmother uses her wisdom and an advising tone in order to encourage Gary to marry a Mexican girl who is financially poor and is like a “house-wife.” A traditional family such as this author’s shares an outlook how marriage is significant and culturally supervised by the parent or the grandparents. The grandmother looks toward a homogamy for Gary’s marriage. The grandmother’s conversational style is most defined throughout “Like Mexican” since it began with the grandmother’s advices and throughout the essay Gary was yet again spoken by his grandmother. The repetition of the thought constantly wraps around Gary’s mind. In contrast, the essay “Gender in the Classroom” strikingly separates the male and female student’s own conversation styles. From Deborah Tannen, males are likely to speak up to show their “contribution” and to “express themselves on the floor.” Also, male students tend to find the “public classroom setting more conducive to speaking” in a large group. (Tannen pg. 285). However, in “Like Mexican” as the audience, we were not introduced with many of Soto’s male friends or a male gathering in order for Soto to express his thoughts and feelings. In another opposition in “Gender in the Classroom” “most women are more comfortable speaking in private to a small group they know well.” (Tannen 285). In other words, female
The story “Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros describes the lives of Mexicans in a Chicago neighborhood. She depicts the life that women endure as Latino wives through her portrayal of the protagonist, Cleofilas. For Cisneros being a Mexican-American has given her a chance to see life from two different cultures. In addition, Cisneros has written the story from a woman’s perspective, illustrating the types of conflicts many women face as Latino wives. This unique paradigm allows the reader to examine the events and characters using a feminist critical perspective.
The author of this short story, Sandra Cisneros used this myth to make herself different from other American writers. She used ideas from things and stories she heard growing up as a Mexican-American woman, living in a house full of boys that got all of the attention (Mathias). Cisneros also grew up in the 19...
In this short story Sandra uncover the tension between Mexican heritage and demands of the American culture. Cleofilas life consisted of never ending chorus, no good brothers, and a complaining father. She is so excited when the day come for her to become married so she can move away from her town where she grew up, were there isn’t much to do except accompany the aunts and godmothers to the house of one or the other to play cards. She was excited to be far away, all she could think about was to have a lovely house and to wear outfits like the women on the tele. Her picture of the ideal Mexican wife soon became a nightmare when she finally arrived to Texas, where she
The main character in “Woman Hollering Creek” is Cleόfilas Enriqueta DeLeόn Hernández, a woman who leaves her home in Mexico to marry a man, Juan Pedro Martinez Sánchez, in Texas. Flowing behind Cleόfilas’ new house in Texas, is a stream named Woman Hollering. Cleόfilas imagines her marriage to be filled with joy and love. To Cleόfilas’ surprise, Juan Pedro is a vile husband that is both physically and verbally abusive. Cisneros brings attention to a recurrent issue within the Chicana community. According to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, “The majority of abused women, (75%) of Mexican-American women reported spousal abuse”
Writing in the 20th century was great deal harder for a Chicano then it was for a typical American at this time. Although that did not stop this author, Sandra Cisneros. One of her famous novels, Woman Hollering Creek was a prime example of how a combined culture: Mexican-Americans, could show their pride and identity in this century. In conjunction, gave the opportunity for women to speak their voice and forever change the culture of Latino/a markets. Not only did it express identity/gender roles of women and relationships, but using these relationships to combine the cultures of Mexican and American into a hybrid breed. This novel, should have been a view-point for the future to show that there is more to life than just gender and race. Concluding this, the articles that helps define this is “The Latino/a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature” and “What is called Heaven”.
Intertwined in allusions to women of Mexican history and folklore, making it clear that women across the centuries have suffered the same alienation and victimization, Cisneros presents a woman who struggles to prevail over romantic notions of domestic bliss by leaving her husband. In the story Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros discusses the issues of living life as a married woman through a character named Cleófilas; a character who is married to a man who abuses her physically and mentally. Cisneros reveals the way the culture puts a difference between a male and a female, men above women. In Woman Hollering Creek, we see a young Mexican woman, who suddenly moves across the border and gets married. The protagonist, Cleófilas’ character is based on a family of a six brothers and a dad and without a mom, and the story reveals around her inner feelings and secrets.
In the Book women are looked upon as objects by men whether they are boyfriends, friends fathers or husbands. The girls in the novel grow up with the mentality that looks and appearance are the most important things to a woman. Cisneros also shows how Latino women are expected to be loyal to their husbands, and that a husband should have complete control of the relationship. Yet on the other hand, Cisneros describes the character Esperanza as being different. Even though she is born and raised in the same culture as the women around her, she is not happy with it, and knows that someday she will break free from its ties, because she is mentally strong and has a talent for telling stories. She comes back through her stories by showing the women that they can be independent and live their own lives. In a way this is Cinceros' way of coming back and giving back to the women in her community.
3. “The Learned Ladies” is a story about a girl named Armande who is in love with a man named Clitandre. All seems right in the world, especially when Armande’s father Chrysale has given them permission to marry, until Armande’s no-nonsense mother decides to marry her off to another man. Armande tries to fight off her mother’s strong will, but the two are no match for her mother who is enthralled with Trissotin, the man she has set her daughter up to marry. Armande is convinced Trissotin is only after their money, and she implores her mother to see reason. At the conclusion of the play Artista plays a clever trick by saying the family has lost all of their money, to which Trissotin immediately bolts, and Armande gets to marry Clitandre.
Cisnero’s work promotes feminism, and provides a descriptive/visual sensation of what it is like to live and grow up without a father figure, and the struggles in finding one’s individuality. Cisnero’s succeeds in reflecting and showing herself past and growth as a child, and fills that sense of void with writing. Chicano folklore like Woman Hollering Creek helps provide as a guide and as a reminder to show later generations what the Chicano culture went through to help shape who we are
In the story "Woman Hollering Creek" Sandra Cisneros discusses the issues of living life as a married woman through a character named Cleofilas; a character who is married to a man who abuses her physically and mentally .Cisneros reveals the way the culture puts a difference between a male and a female, men above women. Cisneros has been famous about writing stories about the latino culture and how women are treated; she explain what they go through as a child, teen and when they are married; always dominated by men because of how the culture has been adapted. "Woman Hollering Creek" is one of the best examples. A character who grows up without a mother and who has no one to guid and give her advise about life.
The girls had been reared to get married” (31). Although the societal customs deems this typical female submissive behavior as acceptable, Garca Márquez uses satire by implicitly stating that the entire point of a woman’s life is to get married, to become subservient to a man. In the light of this, Angela Vicario is forced to marry a man she does not love but then returned when it is discovered that Angela is not a virgin, as if she is an object. Hence, in using satire, Garca Márquez shows how these gender roles place women on a level that may be considered even subhuman and dangerous they really are. Garca Márquez shows the importance of society by showing how a typical female submissive, Pura Vicario, not only condones these gender traditions, but also continues to promote these roles in her children.