Monthly Archives: November 2021

11/25/21

American Labyrinth

Inside, the building branches vertically and horizontally into hallways, offices, windows, courtrooms, and waiting rooms… it’s easy to get lost. The building’s labyrinthine architecture is, in a way, a replica of the U.S. immigration system. And, as in any labyrinth, some find their way out and some don’t. Those who don’t might remain there forever, invisible specters who go up and down elevators and wander the hallways, imprisoned in circular nightmares. (Luiselli 35-36). 

Luisilli’s equivocation of the physical architecture of the building to the US immigration system is incredibly apt, and her evocation of the labyrinth reminds me of Franz Kafka’s The Trial and the Greek myth of the Minotaur’s Labyrinth. This specific passage has many parallels with Kafka’s novel. Josef K, the protagonist of The Trial, must both physically and mentally navigate the court system when he is accused of committing a crime. However, (spoiler alert) he is thwarted at every turn, and after a year of trying the escape the impossible labyrinth, he pays a couple of people to murder him. In the novel, and in Luiselli’s explanation of the building, both authors understand that the physical architecture mimics a bureaucratic system that is trying to confuse and exhaust the victim — they are “imprisoned in a circular nightmare” (Luiselli 36). A more cynical reading would suggest that Luiselli evokes the Minotaur’s Labyrinth when she compares the system to the Labyrinth. Young Athenians were sent into the labyrinth as sacrificial victims to be devoured by the minotaur. This comparison would suggest that the children were always meant to lose, and they never stood a chance — the game was rigged from the start. 

Luiselli acknowledges the victims of this obfuscated system. She recognizes them as ghosts, spectres — perhaps suggesting that they are dead or sent to their death because of the decisions made in the court. Alternatively, Luiselli could also be referring to all the people that have already died on their way to this building; the people trying to navigate the nightmare world that is their real life.

11/25/21

Facts on a Page

“I crossed the border by foot. She swam across the river.”(P.62)

 

When Luiselli interviews the children, she changes from the first person to third person throughout the process of writing down their testimonies. By changing the perspectives it gives the children a more active role in their own stories, in a system that takes away the humanity of the people crossing the border this act shows to the lawyers that are going to be reading the transcripts later that real people had these experiences. By writing some of these testimonies in first person it becomes a firsthand account rather than a story that has been retold several times until it becomes just the facts, stripping it of its power. I think Luiselli uses third person at times in order to distance herself from the stories being told, she doesn’t want to become too involved in each child’s story because she knows that the odds are not in their favour. She also sees how her story is somewhat parallel to theirs and feels the guilt of knowing that she had the privilege of not having to make such a dangerous journey to the United States. By creating the distance with the third person she is able to do her job without connecting these children to her own but it is also what the system wants her to do, reduce these people and their stories to facts on a page allowing them to stay in the country or not. switching between first and third person shows Luisellis struggle of doing her job and adding humanity to a system that has very little. 

11/23/21

ALIENS ON ALIENS CRIME?

When I read this book, I felt as if I had a review, like general culture, something you hear on the radio or see on the news, something that is not normal, but you are used to it. I can’t imagine what a foreigner might think or feel as they read through the violence surrounding the country. As a Mexican woman, things like la Bestia, Los Zetas, Enrique Peña, and “Build the Wall” are familiar terms. So much so that we even make jokes about them (SARCASM).

One of the facts that I didn’t know and impressed me the most is that the children who identify as Mexican do not go through a degrading immigrant process in the United States. Moreover, they could be deported without a second thought.
Almost as if they meant… Oh, you are Mexican? No worries, we don’t have time. We know about all the violence you experienced, but you literally have no chance of getting a permit even if you are MORE discriminated against or harmed in this country. Go behind the line again, Go start over, Go on  keep suffering behind it. That exact same line they drew when they stole more than half of the Mexican territory.

In 1848, the United States “took” more than half of Mexico’s territory. Through the so-called Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Texas, as well as parts of Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Oklahoma, all of which today belong to the United States, belonged to Mexico until the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. And, what I find most ironic is how they call the Mexicans “aliens,” the ones they deport from their supposed country. By what right do they have the power to return these aliens to Mexico when they were the first aliens who invaded the territory.

11/19/21

Assimilating new perspectives

Rejection of one’s culture is not unusual for families who immigrate to new countries, especially to the United States. It’s a consistent theme with people who are raised or spend their developing years in the US, where many times their perceptions of their own people start to change based on their new perception of what is “cool” and “trendy”.

This is seen in Diaz’s “Fiesta, 1980” where Yunior describes his mom’s “cheap ass jewelry which on her didn’t look too lousy” (24). Later on, his Tia’s furniture is named a “Contemporary Dominican Tacky” (32). The teenager’s narrative voice expresses his feelings without any censorship. He is sarcastic and includes curse words which indicate a casual voice very common for most kids growing up in the United States, where the use of slang is sprinkled throughout his narration. There is also a sense of superiority on his part, where his opinions about these two women being stuck with old styles that are unfit for the new culture seem to be very prevalent in his mind.

This rejection of cultural tastes creates a separation between the assimilated youth and older members of the family. Whether it is because of monetary confinement or simply a different taste, these women’s taste is probably scrutinized not only by their own family member, but by society as well. Yunior’s perspective was probably adopted in New York when he saw what others wore and heard people’s comments about them too. . The mother’s demonstrated rejection throughout the story also demonstrates how difficult it is for her to change her opinion about her new home.

11/19/21

Coping with Abuse

In “Fiesta, 1980”, Junot Díaz highlights the same dynamics we saw in the previous unit⁠: the power that a man holds in a patriarchal society and the violence that can stem from his effort to maintain this power⁠—and by extension, prove his masculinity. Though Ramón’s abuse is not directly present within the story, the characters’ range of reactions (not only to his anger, but also their hesitancy to disturb his happiness) conveys the severity of its effect on their family as a whole.

Yunior seems to bear the brunt of the abuse—as he puts it, “It was like [his] God-given duty to piss [his father] off” (26)—yet he craves Ramón’s affection and does not confront him about the abuse or the affair. Yunior also often comes into conflict with Rafa, who has begun to mimic some of their father’s violent behaviour but still avoids his wrath. Even their sister, no more than a few years old, has learned to fear her father’s anger⁠: “Madai was too scared to open her eyes… Anytime Papi raised his voice her lip would start trembling” (26)⁠. Interestingly, though, she seems to be the only character whose relationship with Ramón is somewhat positive, as we see when they search for coins in the car. Finally, the mother is the most worn down by the abuse: she tries to protect her children, attempting to de-escalate the situation when Ramón begins to yell and consoling them afterwards, but there is only so much she can do without challenging him directly.

Though each person has their own way of coping with Ramón’s abuse, they surrender to it in order to preserve their family⁠; however broken it may be, they are very few people they can rely on in this new environment, away from the home they are used to.

11/19/21

In Sickness and in Health

Junot Díaz’s “Fiesta, 1989,” depicts the physical manifestations of the family’s relationship to the father. Not only does the father literally starve his son before they depart anywhere in the van, he also metaphorically starves his family of love and affection. Starving is symbolic of the father’s distance from his family in addition to his abuse and extramarital affair. The irony is that he’s traditionally patriarchal and demands respect, but in turn cheats on his wife and sets a bad example for his children, which may end up contributing to generational trauma. Consequently, Yunior’s disapproval of his father’s actions are manifested into him vomiting whenever he gets into the van. The father’s van was “bought to impress” most likely his mistress (p. 27). Because the father is almost more attached to his vehicle than any of his relationships, Yunior’s vomiting is a symbol of his longing for a good father and a healthy family dynamic. Due to the power imbalance, Yunior or his brother are unable to explicitly make known their disapproval out of fear of retaliation from their father. Alternatively, Yunior may have kept quiet because he didn’t want to see his parents split up, even if it is for the best, which is often what children don’t understand. Regardless of his reasoning for keeping quiet, we know that as a child he cannot speak up, so the only way Yunior is actually able to express himself if through vomiting, particularly in his father’s precious car.

11/18/21

Sense and Space of Confusion

Throughout “The Parade Ends,” by Reinaldo Arenas, space is depicted in an atypical way, as it is developed through the senses rather than typical visual descriptors. This development creates a skewed and confused sense of space. I think the best example can be seen when the narrator is taken to jail. As he enters the jail, he describes, “the circular cave that endlessly oozes bugs, mold, urine, those fumes, those fumes accumulating, overflowing excrement, and that din, the constant shouting of the prisoners, that beating on the bunks and walls” (108). Typically, the visual description would be described to set the scene for all of the other senses to contextualize themselves in; however, Arenas does not do this, rather he places the other senses above sight. By doing so, the reader is drawn towards the emotional side of the scene, rather than the visual. This can be better seen at the beginning of the story when the narrator is attempting to escape a crowd to follow the her. He describes the journey through the people, “that want, like me, to walk around, change places, turn, and that only cause contractions, wiggling, stretching, convulsions” (99). The reader feels the entrapment, so rather than understanding how large the crowd is, the reader understands the feeling instead. We feel the trap; we cant rationalize the narrator out of the situation, we can only be stuck in the trapped space that the narrator is in. As someone who is very visual, I struggled to understand how the scenes were changing throughout the story, yet I was still able to follow the emotions and the atmosphere of these skewed places. Overall, by not relying on visual cues to develop space, Arenas creates an ambiguous sense of space for the reader, which in turn intensifies the emotion and atmosphere of the story.

11/18/21

The significance of Volkswagen

What is the significance of Papi’s Volkswagen in “Fiesta 1980”? Why does the main character, Yunior, always puke when riding it? Yunior’s dad believes that the vomiting has to do with poorly timed meals. The vomiting seems more likely to be a result of both Yunior’s anxieties and the new North-American lifestyle. The Volkswagen itself may be symbolistic of the change from the Dominican Republic to America. It is brand new, and representative of the lavish and over-the-top lifestyle of the United States of America. The change is too much for Yunior to handle, so he constantly throws up in this vehicle. This never happened to Yunior before in any other vehicle. Another thing that likely never happened, or Yunior was not aware of previously, is his father’s want for a new wife. Papi uses this van to cheat on his wife and impress the Puerto-Rican woman during his visits to her home. The brothers, Yunior and Rafa, fear their father the most, especially when he gets angry. This is shown in the first paragraph of page 23, where Yunior mentions that if Papi saw them running around naked, he would have kicked them. This may be another contributing factor to Yunior’s tummy issues when riding the Volkswagen. Yunior knows that his dad is cheating on his wife, and that his mom is hurting deep down because of her marriage. He may also be vomiting as a result of the anxieties brought on by his family-related issues and the radical change of lifestyle that accompanies the move between two countries.

11/18/21

Fathers and Daughters

In Díaz’s story, we see the effects of masculinity and sexuality on the childhood of our narrator Yunior. Yunior’s papi, Rámon, showcases an interesting stereotype among some men. There is a commonality among some men to create a standardized sort of dealing with women, where all women are objects, or subjects of desire, and therefore deserve to be treated poorly, or just treated as less. A sort of contradiction to this behaviour, is exemplified in these men’s actions towards their daughters. There is a common practice amongst fathers to treat their daughters with care and protect them, yet treat other women differently. This is exemplified in Rámon’s treatment of his wife, his mistress, and his countering treatment of his daughter. He shows care for his daughter when he collects the coins from the toll booth for the amusement of Madai (page 28). This is one of the only moments we see him act in a non violent way.

Ultimately Rámon’s actions towards his daughter work to end the violence against women, but his treatment of his sons works to enforce it. In his blatant expression of infidelity which he readily shares with his sons, Rámon sets an example for a patriarchal expression of relationships for his sons. These actions are further highlighted in his violence towards his children, in which he hits his sons, Yunior especially. In this we see him pass along his negative identity to his sons, yet refrains from giving it to his daughter. In these separate treatments, there is much to be understood in regards to men’s own realization of the discrimination against women to desire to protect their daughters from the same thing, yet not to stop such destructive actions in themselves or other men.

11/18/21

The Party is Over

While “Fiesta 1980” is a story about a family party, there seems to be a large emphasis and focus on Yunior’s carsickness problem, leading me to consider the potential messages Junot Diaz is trying to get across. 

His vomiting problem is a major source of conflict and abuse. Yunior alludes to the root of this new problem being his new environment since he ‘was famous for his steel-lined stomach” that only a “third-world childhood could give you” (pg 29). In this case, it seems that his vomiting problem is perhaps a manifestation of the anxiety that immigrating to a new country triggers, especially since it is triggered only when he is in the car after he has eaten. The implication here may be that Yunior is struggling to assimilate into his new country since American food is unsettling for him. It may also be that the movement of the car is enough to trigger the feelings of turmoil and chaos that immigrating may have initially caused resulting in a physical anxiety response. In this case, perhaps Diaz is trying to emphasize the way that immigration can be distressing for a child and the difficulty of assimilation into a completely different society. 

Another approach to understanding this habit of Yunior is to view it as an invitation for his father to take care of him. It is clearly evident that his father is a violent and threatening man who does not offer any paternal love or support. Yunior craves time and care from his Papi and has learned that his carsickness is the only way he can achieve it. He describes his car trips with Papi as something he looks forward to and that “when we were alone he treated much better like maybe I was his son or something” (pg 35). While Yunior understands that his father is a dangerous and scary man, he still desires his attention, and the only way he knows how to get this is by physically demanding it. This makes me consider that Diaz is offering a critique of patriarchal dominance by showcasing the manipulation men are capable of; Yunior both hates and craves his father’s attention.