childPOV – Topics in Hispanic Literature

This week’s reading, Papi by Indiana Rita was definitely the hardest reading for me this term. Perhaps it may have been too complicated or unfamiliar. I found that the non-linear narration made it very difficult for me to follow along with and made the story more confusing than I think it need to be. It was difficult to get a footing on the story, right off the bat the story started off in the present jumps to her childhood and teen years then back to the present day. In contrast to Nellie Campobello’s Catucho, which was also narrated from the point of view of a child, the main characters narration jumps between thoughts, flash backs and dream sequences while providing too many unnecessary details that end up drowning out and prolong the story. For this reason, I also kind of dreaded that it was from the perspective of a child rather than being able to appreciate it for adding dimension to the story.

To speak on the question Professor Beasley-Murray brings up during the lecture, it seems to me, the daughter looks at her father like he’s her hero, her protector, one who can do nothing wrong. She believes him to be like the image she’s formed in her imagination; superior to everyone else dad because he has all of these things and is celebrated by some people. She maintains her undying loyalty to her father that doesn’t really deserve it because of her struggling relationship with her mother and a need for something more. Her father seems to care about her as his child but isn’t very involved or consistent. Seeing as there was an instant her mother used her as a pawn to get a TV out of him, he may be keeping his distance as she can be used to manipulate him. I think this novel really highlights the importance of the father-daughter bond and the influence it can have on shaping a child’s sense of self and belonging. Throughout her search for him, finding him and learning about him, she begins to understand the world, her place in it and how the relationship around her have shaped her life.

Since I personally found the novel fairly confusing, as my question for discussion I’d like to ask; How did you interpret the story? What kind of message do you think Rita Indian was trying to get across in publishing this novel?

After reading the rest of Nellie Campobello’s novel Cartucho I am left with a pretty dark impression of what it was like to grow up during the Mexican revolution. She provides us with vignettes of short stories about the people in her life and their involvement in the revolution. I think two major things this book accomplished was bringing a face and life to some of the lesser-known characters of the Mexican revolution, those that Campobello grew up around or was exposed to through her mothers role in the community. As well as view the revolution and the parties involved from the untainted eyes of a child to provide a new perspective against the one that dominated after the war.

I really enjoyed her vivid and visual descriptions of the setting and people; I think they really helped animate the book. However, it was difficult to follow. I had trouble keeping up with all of the different characters and quick pace of the stories. After getting a sense of who these people are, their stories come to an end either because they die, or the narrator moves on to the next one. Getting to know a bit about a character and then end to their story within a page maybe two made it seem like their lives were somewhat short lived and interrupted. I also found her descriptions of the gruesome deaths in an unattached, matter of fact way also made it difficult as a reader to get attached to characters and make connection between them. This made it difficult to try to grasp at an overarching narrative.

I think adopting the point of view of a child through these stories was like starting with a clean slate. At the beginning there was a sense of hope and curiosity, two scenes that stand out are her introductions of the men of the north and her curiosity when it came to something odd like generals bright red guts. Over time things became less exciting and some form of tragedy was to be expected. Through her less increasing less playful descriptions, it seemed like she was growing up, becoming numb and more disconnected from everything that had happened. I know reading the story, knowing it was from the perspective of a child made it different from other recounts of the revolution. Do you think the story would have been as popular had the author taken a different approach?

Tag: childPOV

Rita Indiana, Papi

Nellie Campobello, Cartucho