Down These Mean Streets (Part 2)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!  The last chapter in particular stood out to me: “I Swears to God and the Virgin” (327).  This chapter begins with Piri going to visit his old building number 109; he says he “always looked at her like an old novia” (327).  I thought this was a super interesting comparison; his relationship with his home/his neighbourhood/his community is just as important as the relationships he has with individuals.  At the end of the last page of the previous chapter, Piri states his thoughts: “what a blank that was.  I should have known, nothing is run the same, nothing stays the same.  You can’t make yesterday come back today.” (326).  Interestingly, on the next page (the start of the very last chapter), when Piri visits his old building, he says: “the mood was the same” (327).  He describes the dark hallways, the dirty marble steps, and he even prepares himself to watch out for the “piles of dog’s mess” (327) or anybody’s “piss water” (327).  For Piri, clearly some things DO stay the same; and in a way, when he visits this old building, he is indeed making “yesterday come back today” (326).  What is it that allows some things to stay the same?  To me, it clearly has to do with memories.  In the very last few pages of the book, Piri is conversing with Carlito (as Carlito is shooting up) and Piri tells him that he is clean.  To me, this claim of being clean has a close connection to what Piri says in the prologue.  For example, in the prologue Piri states: “I’m here and I want recognition” (ix).  Piri believes he is very much worthy of being recognized for navigating himself through the mean streets, and pulling himself out of deep holes (like drug use) that many of his old friends are still stuck in.  On the topic of recognition, in the last chapter Piri greets panín and describes the way in which panín greeted him: “the eyes blinked, straining for some kind of recognition, and then knowing set in …” (327).  Here, like in the prologue, we see the word “recognition”; which I consider to be one of the major themes in this book.  Piri and others are always interacting in ways that involve the recognition of identities; and like we discussed last class, recognizing something/someone involves an aspect of acceptance.  Acceptance, of course, is also a major theme; from the acceptance of identities, to the acceptance of social class and living situation (for example, Piri’s mother accepting that they live in the United States, and not in her beloved, warm Puerto Rico).

2 thoughts on “Down These Mean Streets (Part 2)

  1. Jon

    Cynthia, I think you’re really onto something here. I just commented on Curtis’s blog about the question of what changes and what doesn’t. But I really like your link with the concept of “recognition.” Because, as you point out, you can only “recognize” something if there is some basic continuity, if despite all other changes something, somehow remains the same. I’m not sure exactly what to do with this insight, but I also sense it is key to an understanding of the book.

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  2. stephanie kletas

    I liked how you referred to the idea of recognition and that you also touched on Piri’s view of moving forward in his life. It is true that throughout the book we constantly see Piri wanting to be accepted and recognized for who he is. He wants to find the proper recognition from society in regards to his true identity. In reading Piri’s story of wanting to find belonging and acceptance we encounter a young man who is able to persevere and move forward through the constant conflicts that he encounters in his life while looking for that recognition that he desires.

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