At first, I completely despised this novel. I thought that the structure of this piece created a
disjointed mood that failed to reflect the plot and distracted from the overall
fluidity of the novel. The lack of character development predetermined any
possible connection that I might have had with the protagonist to be
nonexistent. This may sound harsh, but my favorite part of the novel was its
brevity in length. Despite my
obvious dislike for the structure and characterization, there were a few
intriguing characteristics that I enjoyed.
I
found the motif of names extremely interesting. This is probably because the
concept of identity and search for self-definition are thematically more
universal than “Hair” or provocative shoes. The coming-of-age theme is prevalent in this aspect of the
novel. Esperanza is an adolescent
girl trapped in the struggle between defining herself as a woman or a
girl. She is conflicted by her
desire for the conceptual nature of womanhood, while not fully understanding
that she is unprepared for the psychological and physical ramifications
inherent in this maturation. This
burden is thrust upon after she is sexually assaulted, and consequently she
suddenly resents all women for idealizing sex. She is upset with other females
for not educating her on what sex is really like and causing her to create
unrealistic expectations that ultimately do nothing but let her down. The
aspect of this that interests me the most is how spontaneous this transition
from adolescence to womanhood seems to be. While the author uses this sexual
encounter as a hallmark of maturation, I think that there are many different
events that could act as similar catalyst for this personal growth. However, I agree
with the spontaneity of this personal change. I don’t believe that one can just
wake up one day and decide that they have matured from adolescence to a man or
woman. This maturation is a result of many different experiences and how one
chooses to act in these given situations. One prevalent issue in today’s
society is how much incongruence lies in what most adolescents expect their
future to hold and what actually takes place. Society and social media has for
a long time been the source of unheralded and unrealistic expectations of life
in general. We live in a culture that relies on miracles and dreams in order to
maintain hope in our futures. Contrary to this idea, when a family turns on the
10 ‘o clock news, there are never specials on the man who didn’t win the
lottery, the woman who didn’t get the promotion, or the boy who hasn’t woken up
from a coma. Regardless, I feel this sentiment is exhibited by Esperanza
following her sexual assault.
Oddly
enough, I found the chapter “Four Skinny Trees” particularly inspiring.
Esperanza found a personal connection with the four skinny trees that should
not have grown or exist where they do, but live on regardless of their
unfavorable circumstance. This symbol fuels her dreams and gives her hope.
I
also found the criticism of this novel quite interesting; particularly the remarks
that called the novel a betrayal of the “barrio”. I would agree that for a
large portion of the novel the protagonists’ main agenda is to leave the barrio
and there are symbols, such as the four skinny trees that support this.
However, the conversation Esperanza has at the end of the novel with the
elderly aunts seems to contradict this idea. The aunts remind Esperanza to come
back to the barrio after she leaves. It seems to me like life in a Latin based
neighborhood is not a favorable one, and the only way to both maintain the
cultural aspects of the barrio and improve its infrastructure would be to bring
outside education back to the barrio. My point of view is probably ignorant,
but it is difficult for me to see any merit in continuing a way of life that is
obviously degrading in at least an economical sense. I can understand wanting
to maintain one’s cultural roots, but not in a way that leaves a community with
no future but to become a relic.
This
novel seems like a cultural statement that was made without fully thinking
through the concepts inherent in the piece. There are a couple chapters I feel
are completely irrelevant and useless. Despite my discontent with the novel,
the cultural ramifications of the story and certain motifs made reading this narrative
at least somewhat interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment