My first and foremost thought after fishing reading this novel was: “Why in the world does her memoir almost completely focus on her time spent as a child?”. I guess I had understood memoirs as something that captures memorable experiences throughout a persons entire life, and I think in some ways Mama Blanca’s (yes I will be referring to her as such because I somehow feel compelled to do so as the book commented on) childhood was so defining for her, to the extent that she views life through this prism that was crafted by her experiences as a child.
Regardless of whatever the answer to my first question may be, I suspect that it would reveal a lot about the exact kind of character Mama Blanca was. Reading this novel reminded me a lot about the way I saw things through my own eyes when I was a child (Not suggesting that I grew up on a sugar plantation, I quite literally did not). I think there was something very noteworthy in her description of the way she viewed the adults such as her parents; it seemed to be tinged with a sense of mysteriousness and thus mystic authority, or the way she perceived other characters such as Vincente or Cousin Juancho, or Evelyn. It seemed as if their actions around her, or these stories about them that Mama Blanca would tell would always have a sense of distance to her, as if these people around her are much like a part of cosmic nature, where things happen and maybe she doesn’t fully understand them in the way a grown adult would, but the impact of it is still fully felt, in the way a child would feel. In her recount of this childhood of hers, I was brought back to my own too unknowingly, and even started to question myself since when have I stopped perceiving the things around me in that way. To be honest, I haven’t really noticed this change in myself, and I think this perception of things is a marker of the kind of wonder and innocence that Mama Blanca still holds even well into her later years.
Another thing that really stuck with me was this sentence in the foreword questioning “what would life be worth without the grace of forgiveness and tolerance?”. I think the idea encapsulated in this sentence follows in line with Mama Blanca’s thoughts about having the Beast from Beauty and the Beast change back to a human at the end defeating the story’s purpose. As if “sinning” or “ugly things” (Sorry, Beast) need to exist, because then the “nobleness” of belle, as Mama Blanca puts it herself, or the grace of forgiveness, will be able to shine. Otherwise what is the story’s, and I guess by extension, life’s purpose?
To end this post with a question: Why do you think Mama Blanca included the story of cousin Juancho, or Vincente, or the man that milked the cows specifically?
“Why in the world does her memoir almost completely focus on her time spent as a child?”
This is a good question, but note that this is presented not as a decision of Mama Blanca’s, but of the (nameless) editor, who has “deformed” the memoir, and only published the “first hundred pages.”
Hi Kelly! I really enjoyed your post, specifically when you talk about the mysticism that comes from the way a child sees life. This was something I also picked up on reading through Blanca describe her childhood, it has a mysterious quality, especially since it only focused on a few years and very few events. To answer your question, I think Blanca included the people outside of her family that had the greatest effect on her personally. She seems to have gained a lot of wisdom and knowledge from these three men you mention specifically, and I think including them lets the reader understand where Blanca learned the world.
Hi Kelly! I thought your post was really insightful. You highlighted feelings of mystery and mysticism in the way Mama Blanca regarded her parents, something I hadn’t quite noticed. I think it’s an astute observation and really strengthens the sentiments that Mama Blanca had about her father taking the place of “god” in her worldview. In regards to your question, I think Mama Blanca included the stories about the other people on the plantation besides her family were because they, in a sense, raised her more than her parents did. They showed her different perspectives and attitudes towards the world, which helped shape her into the person she became.
Hi Kelly,
I really liked your post. I also thought the same thing when we were in class and Jon was talking about how non of these events in the childhood were not that significant. They were no crazy ups and downs like the fairy tales and we didn’t have that big of a time frame. However, this was only the first 100 pages of the memoirs so it does make sense to not have that huge timeframe we expect with memoirs.
Hi!
Your thoughts are so interesting. I liked that you brought up the idea of ‘perception’, and how the childlike perspective that narrated this story came with a certain openness or ‘mystique’ in relation to all of the other characters.
For me, this stuck out as a reference to perspective at-large, and historical perspective. We tend to view our history, both personal and worldly, with a very static nature attributed to the people that belong to it by way of definitions, characterizations, etc. It’s interesting how people seem to become more complex, confusing and liminal when these boundaries are removed — ie. by way of a child’s perspective. Interesting how people become many conceptions of themselves when history is narrated by an objective/more open point of view!
Hey Kelly, great post! I love reading about and hearing your thoughts 🙂 I reckon the reason why Juancho, Vicente, and Daniel were included in the memoir is partially to do with the roles that different people play in a child’s life. Regardless of whether they’re extraordinarily interesting people, these characters had enough significance in young Blanca Nieves’ life and memories that they had to be included.