“The Cariboo Café” written by Helena Maria Viramontes is a short story line told in three different time frames. The author introduces these main characters: Sonya, Macky, Café owner, and unknown woman. To add a twist to it, the author creates three first-person perspectives that are shifted in a non-chronological order. The author throws out clues and leads the reader to unravel the story and connect the dots. The first few question that arise when reading the story were, how are these people connected? Is the unknown woman the mother of the children? Did the café owner do the right thing? Did the author create the alias name double zero café for a reason? The main connection among the three storylines is the projected feelings towards the young boy Macky by each of the main characters in each story. The stories also connects the significance for …show more content…
the alias name double zero café. In the beginning of the story, Sonya wrestles with a boy at school and loses her apartment key, which she had on a string tied around her neck.
Sonya walks from school to pick up her little brother, Macky, from his babysitter, Ms. Avila’s home. She doesn’t notice she lost the key until they arrive to their apartment. As they wait for their parents to arrive , Macky becomes impatient as they sit outside and watch the sky get darker and the day go by. Macky starts to get hungry. Sonya, thinking of her little brother’s needs, decides to walk back to Mrs. Avila’s house to wait for their parents there. However, in the midst of that decision they get lost and cross paths with the police. Although Sonya in the back of her head hears her parent’s voices echoing about the dangers of “La Migra” disguised as cops. The children got that drilled into their head because they are immigrants, so they hide and end up running into a maze of allies. It is night by then and they see two zeros’ bright from afar and they decide to go there. Sonya is caring and overprotective about her little brother because she wanted to tend to Macky’s
needs. The café owner begins by telling the reader he picked the name of the café because it seemed romantic. He goes on to explain how the paint on the sign is beginning to peel off and the only thing visible is the two O’s; hence, why he calls it double zero. He starts to describe himself as an honest man who doesn’t deny service to anyone. Based on the description of some of the customers that come into his café, it seems to take place in a low income and disadvantaged residential area. The owner also reminisces often about a child named JoJo who happens to be his son who passed away. Now, it is crucial to mention that while describing his day-by-day events, he is tirelessly trying to scrub off a stain from the floor. Finally, the owner mentions an occurrence where he has a brief encounter with what seems to be a mentally ill woman and two children entering his café late that night. A ominous gut feeling in the owners stomach when seeing the woman and described her as a “weirdo”. At first, he didn’t notice the two children until he walked closer and saw them behind the counter. Right off the bat he notices the boy and his big eyes and instantly reminisces about his son. “I pinch his nose ‘cause he’s a real sweetheart like JoJo.” He gets a warm-spot for the child because it brings a feeling of familiarity of his son. He claims that is when he reached out to the young boy, the young girl was not trusting of anyone at that instance. “She flinches like I’m about to tear his nose off, gives me a nasty, squinty look.” As the woman and the two children leave, the owner continues with his regular routine and continues to work. Later than night, he sees a news bulletin about two missing children on the television. He recognizes the two faces because they were the same two children that had entered his café earlier that day. After contemplating to contact the cops due to his past experiences, he decides to call the police to report the two missing children. There is a factory around the café where there are a large amount of immigrant workers. When the police arrive, a large group of immigrant workers run out of the factory and rush into his café to hide. The policemen arrest them and after have a negative image of the owner as they are under the impression that he is hiding something. The owner’s side of the story ends with “..the bells jingle against the door and in enters the lady again with the two kids.” The owner projects his son JoJo onto the young boy, Macky. The owner’s thoughts are that he is simply trying to avoid any problems and make money, however, seeing this little boy and his emotional feelings towards the young boy, he contacts the police to report the missing children. The last section of the short story begins with a woman who finds Sonya and Macky. The story line begins with the memory of her life hardships working tirelessly as a washer woman and not paying enough attention to her own child, Geraldo, who passes away when she sends him out to buy a mango. The mother ventures out of her town for she can no longer bear to stay there after the loss of her son. She crosses the border to the United States of America to start a new life with her nephew and wife and newborn baby. Delusional and distraught, her eye catches a young boy wandering in the streets who reminds her of her son. The grieving mother projects her feelings onto the young boy and is convinced that he is her deceased son and she will not let go of him. That little boy she takes is Macky and Sonya. The woman is not realizing the situation she has inserted herself into. Her feelings are so strong towards the young boy that she attempts to fight off the police when she is confronted at the cafe. “She refuses to let go. For they will have to cut her arms off to take him, rip her mouth to keep her from screaming for help” Her irrational thoughts and projected feelings of Geraldo onto Macky put her in that double zero cafe alongside the other characters. Her last thought is that she will be reunited with her son before she is abruptly shot and killed by the police inside the cafe. The reason the author may have called it double zero is because the woman and the cafe owner had a small glimpse of happiness when they saw Macky and it ended in a tragic way. The author creates three characters telling a different story and has them cross paths because of Macky. It is ironic how the cafe owner had more in common with the woman than he thought. The first time the cafe owner and the woman cross paths, he calls her a “weirdo.” Little did he know that they both have experienced the same pain in losing a child. That is also the reason their stories intersect because they all felt this sense of protection over Macky. Sonya’s decision to find her way back to Mrs. Avila so Macky can eat leads her to their abduction by the woman. The woman’s delusion and sorrow tricks her mind into believing that Macky is Geraldo when she sees them walking the streets at night. Finally, the cafe owners feelings toward Macky puts his troubled differences toward the police aside and calls them about the abduction. All three stories get intertwined because of Macky.
Elli talks about daily life in her neighborhood. Her mother does not show any compassion for her. When Elli complains of this, her mother brings up excuses that are unconvincing. Elli believes her mother does not care for her and that her brother is the favorite. Hilter’s reoccurring radio broadcast give nightmares to Elli, whos family is Jewish. The nights when the Hungarian military police would come and stir trouble did not provide anymore comfort for Elli. One night, her brother, Bubi, comes home with news that Germany invaded Budapest, the town where he goes to school. But the next morning, there is no news in the headlines. The father sends him back to school. He learns the next day that a neighbor’s son who goes to school with Bubi has said the same. The day after, the newspapers scream the news of the invasion. Bubi arrives home, and the terror begins.
She takes a job in a white lady named Ms. Cullinan’s home as a maid, who calls her Mary for her own convenience and lack of respect. This enrages Maya and in order to get away she smashes the finest china to get her fired. At her eighth-grade graduation, a white man comes to speak in front of everyone and he states that black students can only become athletes or servants which makes Maya furious. Later, when Maya develops a nasty toothache, Momma decides to take her to a white dentist who refuses to work on her. Momma claims that she lent him money during the Great Depression so he owes her a favor but he says he’d rather stick his hands in a dogs’ mouth. Lastly, one day while Bailey is walking home he sees a dead black man rotting in a river and a white man present at the scene says he will put both the dead man and Bailey in his truck. This terrifies Bailey and Momma wants to get them out of Staples so she sends them to Vivian’s again in San Francisco. There they live with Vivian and her husband Daddy Clidell who is a nice man to Maya, and has a lot of money from his businesses. One summer Maya goes to live with her father Big Bailey and his girlfriend Dolores, who are poor and live in a trailer. Maya and Dolores do not get along and constantly fight, so Maya runs away and lives with a group of homeless teens
Because of the life that Christine leads, the role of mother and daughter are switched and Rayona often finds herself watching out for her mom. When Ray comes home from school, she would often learn that her mother had gone out to party. Times like this meant that Rayona had to care for herself. It is not uncommon for one to stay out late; but when it is the parent who is doing so, one must question the responsibility of the person. When Christine leaves the hospital, Rayona shows up and helps prevent a potential disaster. She realizes what her mother plans to do, and that her mom will not crash the car with her on board. While Christine is not very reliable, she has no wish to hurt Rayona either; Ray's prediction was correct. As a child, Rayona must fulfill more obligations than a normal teen. Over the time that leads to her abandonment, Rayona begins to feel displaced from her mother. Christine's increasing self concern causes Rayona to feel her mom is ignoring her, when that is not true at all.
Ehrenreich understands that her current employment will not provide her with enough pay to live on. She interviews and is hired at another restaurant called Jerry’s. Unfortunately, Jerry’s is a train wreck. At this restaurant, Ehrenreich finds that the restaurant layout is deplorable. The kitchen of the...
At the outset, during one cloudless afternoon in South Central, Los Angeles, a five-year-old juvenile by the forename of Anthony, cycles his training wheel down the pavement of the road while he unwearyingly waits for his mother Ronnie and her boyfriend Caine to finish transporting their properties to the van for their perpetual relocation to the metropolitan city of Atlanta, Georgia. As the adolescent voyages further on down the pathway, a green Pontiac LeMans Sedan comprised of four men with black masks obscuring their discrete identities, deliberately cruise alongside the curb contiguous to the last house on the street. As the four men approach the residence of Anthony and his mother Ronnie, one of the vehicle’s passengers bellows out the phrase, “Yo, what’s up now partner,” and immediately begins to discharge massive gunfire from his Beretta 92F (MIIS). An immense array of blasts erupted at the residence. Caine’s childhood friend Sharif, who was assisting them in the moving procedure, shot, and tumbled onto the lawn instantaneously.
At Carrabba’s children can expect to be entertained by receiving the “Bambini menu” (kid’s menu) and pizza dough to play with. Customers also have an option to sit front seat at the kitchen counter, where they can interact and watch the chef create the delicious meals. Patrons can also chose to sit at the bar with availability to television screens or have a more private setting. The kitchen also omits wonderful smells, making one think that they’re back at their mother’s house for dinner. The ambience of Carrabba’s can create a home away from home feeling, that will surly make one feel homesick when they haven’t visited
"The Cariboo Café" is a story of Chicano immigrants and a Central American refugee. Along with these characters is the owner of the Cariboo Café, who comes in contact with the others. The story progresses in three short sections. Each section involves a different scenario and is told from the point of view of a different narrator. The three separate settings do not fully come together until the end of the last section. This approach makes the story initially very complicated to understand and difficult to connect the sections as a coherent stream of events. However, it is possible that this was Viramontes's intent. Perhaps the situations presented in the story were ones that posed this amount of confusion and frustration in real life to those who lived through them. Maybe Viramontes needed to convey in her story that what really happened in the urban barrios of Los Angeles never really made sense to anyone.
This movie takes place in Los Angeles and is about racial conflicts within a group of people which occur in a series of events. Since there are a wide variety of characters in this movie, it can be confusing to the viewer. In the plot, Graham is an African-American detective whose younger brother is a criminal. His mother cares more about his brother than Graham and she wants Graham to bring his brother back home, which in turn hurts Graham. Graham?s partner Ria is a Hispanic woman who comes to find that her and Graham?s ethnicities conflict when she had sex with him. Rick is the Los Angeles district attorney who is also op...
Meanwhile, Valerie’s life takes some drastic turns. Her son’s father, Andre, is arrested and she becomes the sole guardian of her son. Detective Travis Clarkson shows up at her door to question Val about Andre’s drug and gang related activities. Val is attracted to the sexy
Well Sammy, the main character, is nineteen and has or had, as I should say after reading the story, a job working as a check-out clerk at the local A&P. (Alexadrov and Petrooshki Tea Company) When one day all hell breaks loose as three scantily clad young women strut into the store to buy Fancy Herring in Pure Sour Cream- 49cents, which is another big indication of the time, the prices of goods and also what people were buying. During this time "Stokesie" is introduced to us as the other cashier that is three years older than Sammy. (22) Well Sammy and Stokesie are overwhelmed with emotions as soon as they lay eyes on these ladies. Which I understand what is going being a guy/man and living in sort of a small town myself, where you know all the girls and their either taken or you just are not interested.
The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe Throughout the novel The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers, there is an evident recurring theme of the past. Ever present in the story is a feeling of unrequited love. illustrated through looking at the parallels of the intertwined relationships between three separate individuals. Miss Amelia Evans, Cousin Lymon Willis, and Marvin Macy, are the players involved in this grotesque love triangle. The feelings they have for each other are what drives the story, and are significant enough that the prosperity of the entire town hinges upon them.
Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but give significance as well. The point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack’s perception of the world is confined to an eleven foot square room.
The story is told in first person through Tangy Mae Quinn, the darkest child of Rozelle Quinn. Rozelle is a light-skinned woman with ten children by ten different fathers, who separates her children based on skin color. She shows favoritism to her lighter skinned children and hatred to her darker skinned children. This is important because the story takes place in Parksfield, Georgia in the late 1950’s, right before the civil rights movement. It starts off with Rozelle Quinn teaching Tangy Mae how to clean her employer’s house because she believes she is going to die over the weekend. News of Rozelle “dying” spreads throughout the town and even beyond which brings her oldest child, Mushy, back into town. It is later revealed that Rozelle is only acting as if she is dying because she is pregnant. While in town, Mushy promises her siblings that she is going to save them from the abuse of Rozelle, but says Tarabelle has to be first due to Tarabelle’s exposure to prostitution. Months after giving birth to her child, Judy, Rozelle kills her by throwing her off the stairs. After this incident, the children slowly start to leave her although Tangy Mae and Laura stay by her side. After majority of her children have left, Rozelle is diagnosed with insanity and is forced to move in with Mushy. By the end of the story, Tarabelle is killed by a fire started purposely by her mother; Tangy Mae has graduated high school and taken Laura with her to cross the Georgia border.
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers is a story of love illustrated through the romantic longings and attractions of the three eccentric characters; Miss Amelia, Cousin Lymon, and Marvin Macy. McCullers depicts love as a force, often strong enough to change people's attitudes and behaviors. Yet, the author seems to say, if the love is unrequited, individuals, having lost their motivation to change, will revert back to their true selves. The allure of the different characters, which is never revealed by the author, seems to indicate that feelings of love and attraction are not necessarily reasonable or understandable to others.Miss Amelia is self-reliant, outspoken and very much a loner. She stands six foot one inch tall and has a strong, masculine build. Her grey eyes are crossed, and the rest of her features are equally unattractive.
During the twenty minutes of silent sitting, I observed several different scenes in a coffee shop. It’s interesting to look back on your own feeling and experiences in contrast to one’s seen before you. The first scene observed took place between a father and daughter. They just came back from swimming, as was obvious from their apparel, so they came into the coffee shop for a bite of ice cream. The father, engaging in conversation with his daughter, asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, for which she answered, “A dancer!” The girl, grinning from ear-to-ear, didn’t expect her father to reply “Life is hard. You’ll learn how unrealistic that is later.” The smile quickly faded from her face as she went on enjoying her ice cream. This