Author Archives: VanessaOng

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.

11/4/21

A Twisted Tale

“Cinderella’s Secret Dream” by Ena Lucia Portela is based on the famous fairy tale, “Cinderella.” There are many twists and differences from the original fairy tale. Where the original fairy tale is set in the medieval period, this version is set in more modern times (maybe the 1990’s). Cleis (Cinderella) does not want to marry that multimillionaire (Prince Charming) due to him being more abusive. Cleis also dreams of being an actress in a soap opera instead. As a result of that and her taking one of her step-sisters’, Lotta’s shoes, Lotta gets the prince. Cleis’ step-sister, Lotta, is murdered by the multimillionaire. The step-mother then goes insane after the loss of her daughter. The prince dies in a helicopter crash after getting away with murder, thanks to his many lawyers. The overall story is more shocking than the original.

How do the twists affect the story? Everyone and their moms have already heard some form of the classic fairy tale many times before, so Portela had to try and make this version more original. Most of these twists don’t happen until the end of the story, when the multimillionaire hosts the party. With these twists, Portela makes the story more engaging and provocative. These changes to the story makes Cleis seem more independent and relatable than Cinderella. They also make the ending quite bittersweet. Cleis gets her dream job, but Lotta and the prince die, while the step-mother is in an insane asylum.

10/28/21

Change for the better

On page 7 of “Broken Strands” by Mayra Santos-Febres, Miss Kety makes the statement that “Sometimes you have to remake yourself because the first time you came out badly.” What does this phrase mean? It means that one has to be willing to take the necessary steps to remake oneself to get their desired image and rise from the less-than-ideal life one has been given.

Despite having a broken nose, Miss Kety is seen by many in her neighbourhood (including Yetsaida) as a goddess, but how did she get there? On page 2, it is mentioned that Miss Kety does her own hair and straightens it with fine products from a discount store. 

She is similar to Yetsaida and many other girls in the neighbourhood. Miss Kety and Yetsaida are both black females with a broken nose that they received from an abusive man. Yetsaida had to wait until the age of 13 and endure the constant abuse, brought about by her curly hair and internalized racism, from her father to finally change her hair. Attaining the desired image is not the only thing one must do. To maintain the desired image, one must continue to work hard by taking good care of their hair and skin.

10/7/21

Death and the Compass and the Rules

When reading “Death and the Compass”, I was most interested in the author, Borges’ six rules in regard to the detective fiction genre. As a result, I chose to write about how these rules fit within this short story.

Rule one that Borges mentions is that the story must not contain any more than 6 characters. This rule was set in place so as to not confuse the reader too much. In this detective fiction, there are no more than 6 major characters.

Rule two is that the criminal has to be introduced in the beginning. In this short story, one of the villains is the second victim, Daniel Simón Azevedo.

Rule three is that the twist villain must not be forced into the role of villain. Although the reader does not get to know much about Azevedo prior to his death, it is revealed earlier on that he has a background in crime, making the reveal of him being one of the villains somewhat believable. 

The fourth rule is the priority of how over who. Toward the final murder, the detective Lönnrott tries to figure out some patterns on how the victim will be murdered rather than the identity of the next victim.

Rule six states that the victim must not have a blood-red death. This rule makes it easier to figure out the cause of death.

The final rule that Borges writes is that the crime must be mysterious without resorting to the use of magic or hypnotism. All of the murders in “Death and the Compass” are mysterious yet do not use any form of magic or hypnotism. All of the murders that can be replicated in real life.

With all these rules set in place, the writer has the foundation for a good detective fiction.

09/23/21

Symbolism and Allegory in “And We Sold The Rain”

The short story, “And We Sold The Rain” by Carmen Naranjo is a work of Contemporary fiction which contains the literary conventions, Allegory and Symbolism.

An allegory is a symbolic narrative in Contemporary Fiction that implies a second meaning. The whole idea of selling rain to other countries is an allegory. This story is a critique of the modern, industrialized society.

While the country in this short story is made-up, the author, Carmen Naranjo, takes inspiration from her home country of Costa Rica. The book was originally published in 1988, but Carmen Naranjo seems to be referencing ISI (Import Substitution Industrialization) and the agro-export expansion from the early 1970’s as well as the debt crisis which took place in 1981. The fictional, nameless country in this book is implied to be a rather poor country with the government selling one of the country’s most basic and important natural resources, rain.

Symbolism is the use of items, events or signs to signify ideas. In the case of this short story, rain is thought by many to be symbolic of change. It means good things such as new life and renewal. The government selling the rain in the nameless, fictional country for the good of the country is quite ironic as it symbolizes that they are basically selling away something that can bring the country new life. With the government of the nameless country selling away their rain, they end up making the country uninhabitable, causing its citizens to flee to other countries.