Are we supposed to talk about Cisneros’ writing style?
I think that her use of Spanglish is very interesting…
My favourite part about the way she writes is her subtle way of hinting that a something is meant to be in Spanish, although it is written in English. For example, she directly translates Spanish phrases into English: “I gave light” (93), “My sky, my life, my eyes” (113)…expressions that are not the same in English. But then she also uses some funny Chicano Spanish words, for example “Wachelos” (123). Chicano Spanish has always intrigued me, both English and Spanish at the same time, but also neither.

My favourite stories in this second half of the book were Eyes of Zapata and Bien Pretty. Bien Pretty was written in such a way that pointed out the differences between the narrator, as an educated Chicana (supposedly born in the U.S.) woman and Flavio, a Mexican man living in the U.S. The narrator points out her dual identity, to bring it back to Gloria, her state of nepantla…
she says: “I wanted to be Mexican at that moment, but it was true. I was not Mexican” (152). It was also interesting when she pointed out that she had never “made love in Spanish before…not with anyone whose first language was Spanish” (153). This shows that she has lived a very hybridized Mexican-American life, not truly belonging to one culture or the other, one language or the other.

Their cultural differences are pointed out over dinner, she is talking about “Afro-Brazilian dance as a means of spiritual healing” (150) whereas he is talking about going to the gym every Thursday “with aims to build himself a body better than Mil Mascara’s” (150). She is a University-educated Chicana from San Francisco…he is an exterminator from San Antonio…Cisneros is not subtle when she points out their cultural, social and class differences…while the narrator is interested in discussing culture, international cuisine and other more “intellectual” topics his choice of topics are far more superficial…what happens at work, his daily activities, his own superficial goal to have a better body than a lucha libre wrestler.

I totally loved this story.

I also totally loved Eyes of Zapata. Cisneros’ ability to create this love story/affair of Emiliano Zapata and Ines was fantastic. I don’t have much time to write about this one, but the one thing that I wanted to throw out there was this overall feeling that I got from Cisneros’ writing about the Mexican revolution (I time when patriotism and loyalty were important things to define) to me the relationship between Ines and Zapata almost symbolizes Cisneros’ relationship with Mexico and Mexican culture. A lifelong love affair, that is both strong and weak at the same time…but Ines says that despite how many other women Zapata is with he always comes back to her…to me this symbolized Cisneros’ returns to Mexico throughout her life, never forgetting her love, her life of Mexico, proving her loyalty to Mexico despite her dual identity as a Mexican-American and the life she creates in the United States. Okay that’s it for now…hasta manana.