Author Archives: Ashley Bell

12/3/21

Hidden metaphors

When I first listened to/read “How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse as an 82-year-old Guatemalan Grandmother” I understood the zombie part of it as it was: a grandmother trying to save herself in an apocalypse. But when I started talking to Conor in the small group discussion, he brought up the idea that maybe it’s a metaphor for the grandmother escaping her abusive husband.

Lozada-Oliva describes the woman as a grandmother, but it could be that she’s also referring to her as a younger woman trying to fight society and the toxic people around her. She packs up her things, says goodbye to the bird, gets dressed, and leaves her apartment to become a “warrior” (5). If this is what Lozada-Oliva meant to do, it’s very interesting that she would tell this all at the age that the grandmother is. I found that it added humor to the narration, especially in the verbal version of it: “go back into your apartment because you forgot your diabetes medication” (4).

The connection to the escape from her household is clarified in the 5th stanza of the poem where her strength and dedication to leave her home is described. She was a woman who immigrated to the United States and had to get through many hurdles, including the language barrier, education system, and then alcoholic husband. Despite her mother’s and society’s disappointment, this woman is able to prove herself and put a meal on the table every day for her children.

In the final few lines of the poem, she talks to her granddaughters and maybe even women in general when she says “I’m coming girls”. This could also be an inspirational message to women who are in similar situations to the protagonist, telling them that they too can “push back their sleeves” and make it through anything, even a zombie apocalypse.

11/27/21

The humor of trauma

What stuck with me the most from Luiselli’s text is the amount of humor that she included in it. I’m also a person who deals with stressful situations by laughing at them or trying to play a joke. Although it’s not always the most appropriate response, it’s interesting how people use humor to cope with unknown or intense situations.

I associated the use of this device with standup comedians. Usually, people who joke about their marginalization, racism, and stereotypes, are the biggest example of how humor can loosen tension about these subjects and help start a conversation about the difficulties of navigating their lives as minority groups.

I found that Luiselli was able to not only bring humor into the narration but use it in such a way that it highlighted just how extreme and unfair the system is. By critiquing the people, institutions, and ideologies involved in the immigration crisis, she allows us readers to become a part of the conversation.

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.

11/5/21

The bodies

What struck me most from Garza’s introduction to the book “Grieving” was one specific paragraph on the second page that starts with “What we Mexicans…”. The repetition of bodies was so impactful to me because she described all the different ways that these people’s bodies had been violently assaulted. They were burned, tossed, disappeared, unclaimed, persecuted, airless, and missing many of their parts. I found this paragraph to do two things:

Firstly, it described in detail just how they were found. There is no filter to the violence, instead, it is honest and direct about it. Normally when acts of violence are talked or written about, the gory details are left out or downplayed as they might be too much for the audience, but the author makes a point of putting their point across: these people were violently assaulted and it should be spoken about. There is a modern version of mass murders happening, which she likens to that of Auschwitz and Armenia, and its time that people accept this. The repetition of “bodies” is impactful and sets a tone for the rest of the book.

Secondly, the consistent repetition of “bodies” demonstrates just how many there are. This reminded me of a concept I’ve heard of which is that humans find it very hard to grasp very large numbers. Not only that, but we also tend to become desensitized to death when it’s published in these large numbers. It is a reaction our brain has when it’s exposed to situations that might cause grief or trigger strong emotions. These tragedies have been happening in Mexico for so long that the author could be trying to bring awareness to the problem and individualize these people and what has happened to them. Rather than saying that there were 20 bodies found, she describes each and every one of them to emphasize that they are not just a number, but that they were murdered and that they deserve justice.

10/29/21

The power of advertising

As I read the story, and specifically when the hair products were mentioned, I felt like I was reading an advertisement for hair products. I found it very interesting how the narrator utilized proper nouns and similes of advertisements to build the picture of the beauty standards that are enforced on the black and curly-haired people of Puerto Rico. Imagery is utilized on page 2 to introduce the concept, where the women are described to walk down from the bird and have perfect hair that the wind plays with. This is an image I think most people, or women, know well. The shiny long and perfectly brushed hair being carried around in the wind is an image we know too well from TV adverts. The advertising then continues on page 5 where the specific name of the brand is mentioned “Clairol Gel Colors Purple Blue Black without peroxide or ammonia”, “Easystyle Products Hair Relaxer Without Lye” as well as “Swedish Biolage products, they aren’t cruel to animals or the environment” on page 7.

The use of proper nouns and the complete names of the products makes it feel like the narrator and the people in this society have it ingrained into their brains. The advertisement and need to reach those standards have become so important to them that they repeat them word for word, as well as the ingredients they include and the benefits of choosing these brands. These proper nouns stood out in the paragraphs because they broke the flow of the narration, but at the same time, they demonstrated the symbol that Miss Kety is for beauty standards in this community. The products are mentioned with such authority, it’s almost inevitable for the people to want to buy them.

10/14/21

The housewives of Altos de la Cascada

As I watched “Widows on Thursdays” I could not help but laugh at the country club depicted in the movie as I’m very familiar with these gated communities. Growing up in Argentina, they were the norm for many upper-class families and ex-pats. My friends used to live in them, and I remember just how different their lives were there in comparison to other people living in the suburbs such as myself. Here we were able to do things like roam around freely at night, which during my teens it was almost impossible to do outside without the fear of something happening to you.

Despite the amazing qualities that many people see with these communities, there’s always a fakeness that comes to it. Argentina is no stranger to economic crises, and in those people are forced to make life changes, such as how we see with Tano, Ronnie, and Martin. But it becomes so hard for them to accept their new realities. They’d rather die than have to face their wives and families with the truth, which is that they must leave this idyllic community with their friends, sports, and security.

This need to appear successful and wealthy is common in Argentine society, and we are shown the extreme measures that people would go to maintain this. What the movie is able to demonstrate is the erraticness of the Argentine economy, and that even the people living in the most secure communities are not safe from being unemployed and joining the rest of society in their struggle to make it through yet another crisis.

10/7/21

Never trust the author

Borges’ use of prolepsis at the start of the story does one of two things. Firstly, it introduces us to Lonrott as a decently capable detective as he is able to figure out when one of the murders is, however, he isn’t able to stop it. Secondly, it provides a brief overview of the conclusion of the text, but with very few details, so it keeps the readers from knowing the whole truth. The use of prolepsis causes the reader to expect Lonrott to solve the crime, increasing his credibility, as well as create anticipation and suspense about the end of the story.

After recognizing these two facts, it led to me reading the text with a lot of trust in Lonrott, so I didn’t pay much attention to his intense research into Jewish practices and holidays. It also made me read the text carefully to try and figure out the conclusion before it was fully revealed to the reader. It became a competition between the text and myself, as I knew what was going to happen, but I wanted to figure out how before it was unveiled by Borges. Each detail and fact that was thrown at me was analyzed and taken note of to try and piece together a truth that would eventually solve the case. Unfortunately (but fortunately because it made it more interesting), Borges offered us a solution that was much more complex than we might have expected. Well, not exactly much more complex because the start of all the murders ended up being just as Treviranus had predicted. As the readers, we are thrown off not only by Lonrott being the last murdered person but also by the fact that he was wrong all along despite the long explanations and discoveries we are told about.

09/17/21

Funeral of a childhood

The child lens that Arias adopts in this short story made me reflect a lot on the innocence of children and their way of thinking. I compared the text a lot to Room, which is a novel about a kidnapped mother and her son. Here too the five-year-old child is the one that narrates the very tough journey the two take to escape the mother’s kidnapper. It is through the view of a child that an author is able to “dumb down” a tough narrative and see it through a different set of eyes who are also trying to comprehend it. Not only are we learning along with the protagonists, but we get to see a different perspective on what they think of it.

The start of the text seems to be the most impactful in this sense, as it is where we first meet Maximo and his way of thinking. Although it’s told from a 3rd person’s perspective, we still get an insight into his thoughts, such as when he talks about the “poor little corpses” “filled with worms” who “deserved to die” (Arias 50). If an adult character were to say that these poor little corpses deserved to die, we would probably characterize them as a violent person with psycopathic tendencies. However, the context of this character allows for the reader to somewhat understand them and their thought-process. It’s not necessarily because Maximo wants them to be dead, but instead he feels like they deserve it because of their bad smell. It seems like a simple answer to the situation for Maximo, but as readers it allows us to reflect on what this character is surrounded by, and what his perception of death is in his war-filled upbringing.