Author Archives: CristinaSilvaLores

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.

11/15/21

(Our) parade fell

In this reading, I was confused but so intrigued at the same time, primarily when they were constantly referring to me (us) in the reading. The word “you” comes across repeatedly, that much that I centered myself inside of the story, almost as if I could feel it and see it. “Luckily, in the last visit, you managed to bring in some books.” (page 108), as if we as readers were friends with the narrator. Almost as if we both share the same passion and impotence of wanting to escape. But how is there an escape route when there is not an exit and ability to speak up, to begin with?. Moreover, silence is a highly discussed theme. The narrator shows the true background story of Cuba by documenting what was never told and the consequences of standing for yourself (he ends up in jail). 

I also want to talk about how hope is also mentioned, “Time passes, time passes, you say.” (page 108), as if life could move on as if there were faith, something worth living for. Plus, noting metafiction “(Hope?)” on page 106 shows the unthinkable, dream, and final goal. Later, the plan changes and turns to revenge “… my triumph which has gone on growing thicker…” (page 113).

Coming back to what I initially mentioned. In the end, when the people jumped the fence and took shelter, the narrator says once again,” they couldn’t annihilate me-annihilate us– completely.” (page 119), as if we were inside with him. However, he mentions he can’t find us, “really, will we still be able to recognize each other” (page 120), making it a little confusing for the reader to identify themselves and figure out which side they are standing on. Still, it seems we (as readers) allied to those “wealthy people” and stayed outside and got ourselves caught without an escape, making us realize that we (someone close to the writer) betrayed him.

 

11/1/21

See the world through your own eyes, not society´s.

The author uses the first-person narrator and witness, which at first is a bit confusing as you expect the point of view to be that of Cleis. Later she gives us a clue “Now Regan, she was really ugly: short, scrawny, and humpbacked, with beady eyes like an owl” (p. 1, line 19-20) and at the very end “As for me, Regan, I’m still here in our town, observing life with my owl eyes.”(p. 5, line 25).
Lucía describes Regan´s eyes as owl’s eyes, owls are associated with being observant, silent, and calm. And well the narrator turns out to be that owl’s point of view (Regan), the correlation to what the author is trying to portray (gender violence) to this character could be seen in the silence of the sister, how she casually brings up the femicide of her sister but quickly turns the attention away, and the lack of sorority between women (she knew that Cleis was assaulted but she didn’t bother to stand against the marriage of her sister).
The tone Regan employs to tell the story, especially the way she describes herself is indifferent, almost as if she meant nothing. One of the phrases that moved me the most was “After all, who’d listen to me?”(p. 1. line 6), she sees herself as less and unworthy, “As for me, I had no illusions about my chances seducing the tycoon.” (p. 3, line 12). That’s why I (and maybe most of us) as readers never expected the narrator to be Regan. Who would criticize herself in that way? Those unattainable beauty standards are not a measure of how much you are worth, but then again that’s what society has led us to believe.

 

10/26/21

The Real-Life American Dream Telenovela

The constant use of literary figures to describe the situation (in this case the domestic violence, abuse, etc.) leaves me speechless, the author could not have used other resources as the effect on the reader would not be the same, it is almost perfect, “They want to tell each other what they want to tell themselves. But what is bumping like a helium balloon at the ceiling of the brain never finds its way out. It bubbles and rises, it gurgles in the throat, it rolls across the surface of the tongue, and erupts from the lips– a belch.” (Cisneros, 1991). Interpreting the feeling of having to stay silent and appear fine, when inside you are about to explode, being under all this violence and having no one else to turn to.

Also when, “If they are lucky, there are tears at the end of the long night. At any given moment, the fists try to speak. They are dogs chasing their own tails before lying down to sleep, trying to find a way, a route, an out–finally–get some peace.” (Cisneros, 1991). This demonstrates the solitude and pain she is experiencing by herself, also this could be cross-referenced with Miss Soledad and Miss Dolores which in Spanish mean exactly that (onomastics/symbolism).

The feeling of the main character being lonely shows the intertextuality that people hope for the American Dream, in this case, Mexicans leave their families on the lookout for better living standards and job opportunities, they change their poor lifestyle for a “low-life” American lifestyle, they got an upgrade but it leaves us with the question if it was an actual improvement, references such as “él otro lado” which has a cultural meaning referred to as the USA, the characters express what they feel when they are looking back from the other side of the line.

Cleofilas parallelism of her life compared to a telenovela shows how it is an unattainable point of view, an example, she has never been with another man therefore there is no possible point of comparison, she also points that she doesn’t make changes or raises her voice to her husband because he was the man she was supposed to wait for her whole life, showing the cultural belief, that a woman’s life doesn’t start until she is married.

Finally, I want to highlight that it also shows the cultural shock of machismo in another country (the USA compared to Mexico), the main character was left open-mouthed when she saw a woman driving a “real” car, working and providing for herself while she was so used to being a housewife.

10/11/21

“You know too much” as a student is an accomplishment, as a journalist is a death sentence

In this story I found it a bit confusing that it is divided in two parts, first we can infer that Aldama by giving money to Anahi is “bribing” her (buying her silence) or as we know an excessive show of macho and classist power and we can believe that Aldama murdered Larry in front of the “crazy woman”.

In the second part, the journalist Renzi is in charge of publishing the news, with his high academic level, he realizes after studying Anahi’s “babbling” that in reality the real murderer is Almada and not Antunez, but his editor-in-chief recommends him that what the police say is the truth and that he should not say the opposite for his own good. He still dares to publish the truth leaving us as readers wondering if something bad happened to him and realizing that the first part is the article he wrote. 

The author is referring to the corruption within the police in Argentina, journalists who try to change the country with the truth end up dead, the example is given that a person with connections, money and high rank is untouchable and can get away with it, Atúnez will spend his whole life in jail and Almada does not have a single worry. 

At the end we realize that Renzi did not care and still published the article. Maybe he is either very naive or very brave, sadly telling the truth should not be considered a feat of bravery but in a country sunk in corruption, the truth cannot even cross your mind. 

 

10/6/21

You can not trust even those who “protect” you

This reading definitely made me feel like a detective, every time I was trying to deduce who was the real murderer of Rosa, first the husband, then the wife, the neighbors, Rosa’s boyfriend, and until the end when I realized it was the policeman, it was surprising but at the same time, it left me with the thought that it has a back story. 

I was at the edge trying to figure out why would someone kill Rosa, it never crossed my mind that the murderer would be the one that should be looking out for the killer. 

It had the typical figures in a detective short story,  multiple diversions of who the killer really is (the husband disappearing, the wife taking more time than normal in their errands, a jealous boyfriend, etc.), tons of clues laid out, a surprise ending. (A different point of view in comparison to Borges style). 

But there is one particular aspect I want to focus on, which is that the author uses this story to allude to the ongoing corruption in Mexico. In a fair and normal place, the police are the ones you go to when you need help, it’s their job to care for your wellbeing, in Mexico it’s the other way around, why would you ask someone for help when they are the first ones to commit and cover-up those crimes. Not only does the author leave us with this exciting story with an unexpected ending, but she also infers that a policeman has the power to get away with everything even murder.

09/22/21

Wear it proudly

After reading the four poems of “Here was paradise” by Humberto Ak’abal, knowing that he is from Guatemala we can infer that the historical background at that time influenced his writing.

I found it so fascinating that even when he was living in one of the most segregated countries filled with racism, violence and discrimination towards indigenous people, he self-identified with the mayan culture and he was proud and honored of his roots, the most relevant example is that he knows how to write in mayan language and his writing process involved first doing it in          K´iche´ and then translating them to Spanish. 

Quotes that the most stood out for me were in the poem: “When I woke up”; “and pull out a rib” (Line 7) and “made of mud and corn,”(Line 12) are allusion to both mayan culture (Popol Vuh) and christian religion, In the mayan culture it said that the woman was made from mud and corn grains but here he mixes it with the Bible that states that Eva was made from Adam´rib, it shows how he identifies as a mestizo, he doesn’t have anger towards his older generations or how the spanish stole their initial and real culture beliefs, he accepts both equally.

I believe the initial theme in “When I woke up” is solitude but eventually it had a “solution”, a light, that at the end everything will be alright. Humberto’s writing is filled with optimism even after his death; it still gives the hope that at some point things in his country could improve.

 

09/20/21

SCARCITY IS THE MOTHER OF STRATEGIES

Throughout the reading we are constantly reminded about how the country is in debt and how the poor in comparison to the members of the government are described as  “rats” and their quality of life is unmatched. From the beginning to end we are shown that the situation goes from bad to worse, starting with several debts that not even global organizations want to support or help until the dissolution of the country. It discusses topics of scarcity, social classes, incapacity (government), inequality, corruption, etc.

I found it confusing whether the realness of the so-called “cows” was true or just a metaphor, or maybe what it meant is that everyone puts themselves out to help but at the end they are just words. Maybe the cows highlight corruption as a topic, because as we all know they never send them cause the country next door would probably steal them.

Then the rain starts, making what was worse into a horrible situation, but here comes the “brilliant” or what i like to call “what did you do before coming up with that, next time i’ll go with u”, idea. Different circumstances brought the last person to do something unthinkable but what at that time someone else demanded. They created a strategy, first send a woman that fitted the top beauty standards as seller to the possible buyer, second only tell him about the “good” and how it was always green, a paradise in other words, incredibly sell the idea. 

IT WORKED!!! yeah I know (i couldn’t believe it either), but as we know something awful had to happen, the rain magically stopped and things got bad again, people started seeking their “same past life” but in another place, the country issues start to look a lot like in the first one and after finishing the story I thought to myself how blind I was, that i didn’t know from the very beginning that the city that “bought” the rain was indeed that neighbour.