Summary Of A Place Where The Sea Remembers By Sandra Benitez

1790 Words4 Pages

Sandra Benitez was born in Washington D.C. on March 26, 1941. Her birth name is Sandy Ables, she had lived her childhood in Mexico and El Salvador where her father served as a diplomat. When Benitez was a teenager she was sent to live with her grandparents up north where she had become “Americanized”. In 1979 she had left her job and had began to attend a creative writing course. “Her first novel, a murder mystery set in Missouri, was never published. She brought the novel to a writer’s conference, where she was told it was terrible”. (Benitez, Sandra Benitez) This had led her to change her name to Sandra Benitez and focus on writing on her Latina heritage. In 1993 Benitez had published her first novel, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, receiving the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. A Place Where the Sea Remembers is set it Santiago, Mexico, and consists of short related stories, where each story is focused on a single character. The story portrays victory and disasters of the common people. The characters struggle to survive and conquer in the hard and strange world, one ends by the rhythms and the power of the sea. This novella is set in a world filled with love and betrayal and hope and despair. It reveals stories as a bittersweet portrait of the people who live in Santiago, a village near the sea; the triumphs, hope, failures and flaws of this novella. The characters create a natural picture of life that is both a universal portrait and an inside look at the life in Latin America. In A Place Where the Sea Remembers, is filled with guilt and regret, the main factors in the characters lives, and forgiving one other is hard to come by. Some of the characters experience the pain of trying to live wi... ... middle of paper ... ...a cycle. They believe that birth isn’t necessarily the beginning and that death is definitely not the end. In fact, they believe that in order to start a life one has to die. This is similar to Chayo and Marta. Marta and Chayo are not on speaking terms for several years. Chayo is mad at her sister because went to the El Brujo to have her sisters unborn child dead. After many years of avoiding each other, Chayo finally gives forgives her sister and welcomes her back into her life. “For Marta, Richard’s death was not an end, but instead the new beginning to her life with her sister. Through death, new life began.” While there are many themes that can be found in this novella, Benitez skillfully uses the Mexican culture and the beliefs to improve her story, giving it understanding beyond the traditional American thoughts that many foreign writers are unable to achieve.

Alfredo Corchado's Midnight in Mexico
1122 Words | 3 Pages
The story is told in the first person and it seems to be reasonable, because the author tells his own story. Although, he is very careful, while talking about the facts, because even the fact of the existence of this book exposes him to danger. Because the content of it, revels the reality of life in Mexico, including the life of criminals, and the way they influence the life and career of the author and the ordinary people. The story is gripping, and it simultaneously appeals to both: ethos and pathos. At the same time the author seems to be worth believing, because, on one hand, he worked for Dallas Morning News, and got...
Read More
Summary Of A Place Where The Sea Remembers By Sandra Benitez
790 Words | 2 Pages
Sandra Benitez, birth name Sandy Ables, was born in Washington D.C. March 26, 1941. Due to her father’s job as a diplomat, she lived most of her childhood in Mexico and El Salvador. During Benitez teenage years, she lived with her family in the United States where she assimilated into American culture. In 1979 she decided to leave her job and began to attend a creative writing class. “Her first novel, a murder mystery set in Missouri, was never published. She brought the novel to a writer’s conference, where she was told it was terrible”. (“About”, Benitez) This led her to become the person she is now and focus on writing of her Latina heritage. In 1993 Benitez had published her first novel, A Place Where the Sea Remembers, where she received the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award.
Read More
Analysis Of Diles Que No Me Maten By Juan Rulfo
1646 Words | 4 Pages
The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost
Read More
Rodriguez and Mexico
413 Words | 1 Pages
Mexico is described as tragic-those who are of Mexican descent are often very traditional in thought. Rodriguez’s father held the traditional beliefs that old men are wise, that life is disheartening, and near one’s death is the point where one must look back on their life. However, he also feels that Mexico is a happier place, with sweeter children and more lavish funerals. Perhaps he views Mexico as the tragic place because it represents a lost heritage to him. He, who in his middle age, finds himself agreeing with the Mexican ideals, nevertheless finds himself affected by living in America. Instead of being raised with the ideas of Mexican culture, he was raised with Protestant optimism characteristic of California. He was forced to abandon the way of life of his ancestors, even if only partially. America-more specifically, California, conquered the Mexican ways, and in so doing, lost the opportunity to reconcile the Catholic South and the Protestant North. Thus, Mexico emerged as the tragic hero and California as the laughing victor. California is comedic because it is a place where it is possible to start anew, to defy the traditional.
Read More
The Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez
2546 Words | 6 Pages
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
Read More
So Far from God by Ana Castillo
1087 Words | 3 Pages
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
Read More
How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
1942 Words | 4 Pages
of the native tongue is lost , certain holidays may not be celebrated the same , and American born generations feel that they might have lost their identity , making it hard to fit in either cultures . Was is significant about this book is the fact it’s like telling a story to someone about something that happened when they were kid . Anyone can relate because we all have stories from when we were kids . Alvarez presents this method of writing by making it so that it doesn’t feel like it’s a story about Latin Americans , when
Read More
Spanish El Recado
1251 Words | 3 Pages
Elena Poniatowska escrita durante una epoca de cambio en Mexico. Antes de sus obras las mujeres mexicanas eran sometidos, docil, y pasivo. En la tiempo de sus obras las mujeres estaba tratando salir de los estereotipos de antes. Esta problema social tomo un afecto en Elena. Aunque ella no viene de un movimiento literatura directamente, ella escrita con el concepto de compremetido. En su narrative El Recado ella crea un mujer estereotipical que no puede controlar sus emociones. La titula es eso porque ella viene a ver su amante, pero el no esta, asi ella escribe las cosas que sentia. La perspectiva es de un personaje y ella nunca interacta con otros personajes. En facto la unica descripcion de un personaje otro de la protagonista es de su amante Martin. Habla de otros personajes, pero solamente de sus acciones. Porque ellas es la unica perspectiva que tenemos es sencillo a sentar compasion para una protagonista de quien nombre no aun sabemos. Ella da la descripcion de toda que vea, y mas importante todo que se sienta. Tambien tropos y figuras retoricas dan un tono significante al poema. Estos sentimientos de la portagonista y el tono emocional de la narrativa transporta una tema de una mujer estereotipical y debil quien quiere ser reconocido.
Read More
Analysis Of The Book 'A Place Where The Sea Remembers'
130 Words | 1 Pages
The book A Place Where the Sea Remembers, by Sandra Benitez, is told from a variety of different perspectives. All the characters live in a small town called Santiago, a Mexican village by the sea. The community struggles with social injustice, discrimination towards women, poverty, and finding hope for the future. One example involves Marta, a 15-year-old girl, who is raped and becomes pregnant. She does not want the baby, so her sister and brother-in-law offer to take the baby. Shorty after her sister agrees, however, she finds out she is pregnant, too, and comes to the realization that she can no longer take her sister’s baby. Through this conflict, other characters are affected, too. Additional conflicts are interwoven and are ultimately
Read More
The Meaning of Home in The Seafarer
957 Words | 2 Pages
It is important to consider the meaning of home when analyzing The Seafarer. The narrator of this poem seems to feel a sense of belonging while traveling the sea despite the fact that he is obviously disillusioned with its hardships .The main character undergoes a transformation in what he considers home and this dramatically affects his life and lifestyle. Towards the end of The Seafarer the poet forces us to consider our mortality, and seems to push the notion that life is just a journey and that we will not truly be at home until we are with God.
Read More
The Latino Culture in America
1081 Words | 3 Pages
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
Read More
Death Comes for the Archbishop
710 Words | 2 Pages
It is apparent to me that this is not a novel about an individual person, but about a place. The land and people of New Mexico are the storytellers. It is through them that this series of short stories are joined together into a novel. It is the story of these events that make up the narrative.
Read More
Comparing The Border In Sunshine And Noir II
1091 Words | 3 Pages
To begin with, it is possible to see how J.Lopez uses the personal narrative of her grandmother, for reach the emotional sense of the reader. She cites the grandmother speaking, and then reacts like was the first time that she (the author) was listening to the history as well. For example, Juanita Lopez says in her text: “The horribles things that they had to do to come across (the border) were shocking to me as soon as my grandmother began to describe them.” They had to go through a lot of hard situations to came to the United States of America trying to get news opportunities. At the same time, Michael Wickert makes a really good use of a metaphor to deliver his point of view. In his poem, the author says: “ and Esperanza, a daughter in the back seat on her way to school huddled in books and dreams nibbling on burritos de chorizo con papas sipping chocolate, her head resting on the window” Which demonstrates the classic example of a Mexican person that has to cross the border everyday in a hope to get a better future. And also, relates to the idea of “Sunshine and Noir” because is showing the real reality, the noir, that sometimes a lot of people who thinks that San Diego is only “the Sunshine” try to hide it. Moreover, in his poem, Wickert uses a really interesting mix of Spanish and English that makes the “Spanish feeling” of the border be alive
Read More
Sandra Cisneros Never Marry A Mexican
750 Words | 2 Pages
The American writer with the Mexican roots Sandra Cisneros often uses Spanish into her writings. She substitutes English words by Spanish when she feels that Spanish better convey meaning. Cisneros’s ability to speak two languages gives her a unique position. She can tell not just her stories but also of those around her. From the words of the author, “if I were asked what it is I write about, I would have to say I write about those ghosts inside that haunt me, that will not let me sleep, of what which even memory does not mention” (Roberson 62). This paper focuses on a short story Never Marry a Mexican and explores the reasons for such a provocative statement.
Read More
Impact Of Borderlands On Gloria Anzaldúa
692 Words | 2 Pages
Overtime, we have seen the influence and power that authors held through their writing(s). Authors such as William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and J.K Rowling have had lasting impacts on society whether it be through the entertainment business (ex. J.K Rowling and the Harry Potter franchise) or through studies inside and outside of the classrooms. Gloria Anzaldúa adds to the list of influential authors as her novel Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza has “the power to change minds” (Cantú and Hurtado 1), and has been taught in classrooms particularly geared towards women studies and feminist theory. Borderlands is a metaphor that conveys the limitations- socially, culturally, geographically, and sexually- within the border of two counties, particularly the U.S Mexican border. Gloria furthers her discussion in chapter six and seven by expressing her frustration of being stuck between these borders, the battle of feminism, and the loss of herself due to her oppressors.
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Summary Of A Place Where The Sea Remembers By Sandra Benitez

Alfredo Corchado's Midnight in Mexico