the end

the books that we read during the class definatley made me think of borders although being a physical reality, is quite a socially made up concept. All the books we read showed us that its hard to be either here or there, or to be this or that. The characters have all been quite fluid as well as the authors and described to us the difficulties of having to accustom to new life in a new place, as well as accustom to how the old life is viewed while living in your new world. I think that these books, especially the last three have shown the different ways remembering is portrayed (like in Rodriguez's memory is portrayed through the body), becoming accustomed to something (dont like the word assimilation) because no one really fully assimilates when you come to a new place. I really liked the themes we delt with in these stories and it was really interesting to see how even though the stories took place in different places, with different latino cultures..its still the same themes that are brough out. My favourite book by far was sandra cisneros's Women Hollering Creek. i loved everything she had to say and the way she writes is just so blunt and powerful. I felt that some of her stories she put in for the reader to think about if it really ties into chicano life and if so for what reason (like the marloboro man one). i think the notion of identity will always be one of the strongest themes that comes out throughout chicano literature because in th end, its kind of what we all strive for. To identify ourselves with a place, a religion, a race, a gender...its all those things that make up our identity but its not just black and white and thats why these authors write in the way that they do, to try and show us the hardships one goes through to identify themselves to sense that they belong to something or somewhere. i wonder if thats been ingrained in our minds by society that we need to label ourselves by where we come from in order to feel like we exist in the world? hmmmm...something to think about...

more thoughts...

in the second half of the book, i found that chronologically things began to flow a lot more. i was able to now see the reasoning behind all the crazy behaviour that we witnessed in the first half. Once again the topic of assimilation and racism is brought up. Constantly we are witnessing the different reasons as to why perhaps the girls grew up some what crazy, each in her own way. The part about Clara being made fun of and seeing a pedifile and also when Yolanda had to make her speech are only a few of the scenes where we see them struggling to identify themselves in this new country where they are constantly discriminated against. This led to them losing more and more of the identities as Dominicanas and identifying more with the US way of life. Its not only the girls that are going through constant identity crises'. The father not knowing how to act towards the promiscuous Mrs. Fanning and then the mother with all her inventions being stolen from her are constantly under attack by these foreign things. Again i feel like, i could relate a lot to what the girls went through, why the mother was so crazy about their manners and being proper and putting up this perfect show. I bet that as much as they felt like charity cases (which is what a lot of immigrants feel like when they cannot provide for their families) they still tried to maintain their dignity. Carlos was even lucky being able to get a doctor related job because more doctors who come from foregin countries have to take defend their Phds by taking all these courses. its like being tested if your good enough (like if the standards in your country are good enough to be used in America) and this is only one of the dynamics immigrants face when coming to a new country. This is why you see immigrants with their masters and PHD's working as housekeepers or caretakers. as much freedom as north america may appeal to have, immigrants as long as they will live in their new country, will always feel a sense of not belonging. (this is me venting about my personal experience....sorry.... :)

better late than never...

im really captured by this story and especially the bluntess as to how it is told. This novel, although coming from a distinct hybrid point of view, is actually something a lot of immigrants can relate to. Having immigrated twice i can relate to all the girls in a sense, and the problems they've gone through. From traditional ethnic values to religion, all of these topics play an important role in the upbringing of a child, and especially when that child goes through adolescense. When children and parents grow up in different worlds, points of view are going to clash. Also i found that losing and reviving your heritage is an important theme in this novel. A lot of novels that we've covered have been about being in lost in between two worlds and not finding oneself, and although this book can relate to it, i find that the women go through a process of self realization. yolanda with wanting to be called yolanda and not any of her nicknames. I think the hardest thing with children and parents from different worlds is understanding the cultures. We see when different themes are brought up like dating, sex, babies, drugs, and even being immersed into the "white" world. my parents still dont understand anything. and even if they're white they havent got a clue about "north american" cutltural norms and they've lived her for 15 years.