Cofer's use of the word choice in “Abuela Invents the Zero” reveals the narrator to mean and not care about others. “Abuela Invents the Zero” is a short story by Judith Ortiz Cofer about the relationship between a young girl and her grandmother. Abuela is from the American Isles and her behavior embarrasses her granddaughter Connie, at the end of the day, Abuela explains to Connie how she made her feel worthless. In paragraph 8 it uses the word disappear. The narrator uses the word disappear because he is embarrassed by her grandmother in church and is scared of what her friends will think.
Throughout the development of this book, many themes and ideas about the book develop to help explain the characters and why they made the decisions they made. It is clear that one’s identity back in those days was connected to one’s gender and so I argue that even though the relationships between opposite genders seem more positive in the book, the same gender relationships are more stable even in their different degrees of tension. We first see this through an observation of the relationship between Lola and her mother Belicia.
In Dorothy Allison’s short story “Context” (1994), Allison illustrates that really knowing someone demands an in-depth understanding of the person’s background, especially socially and family wise. Allison utilizes flashback along with imagery to help demonstrate how she feels about being judged. The flashback and imagery are used in order to help the reader get more of a feel for the story and picture the events happening. Allison writes this short story aimed at just the general audience and people who are or who have been in the same situation.
From the day she was born, she was seen as an outcast and a burden by her siblings. “I believe I came not only an unexpected, but an unwelcome guest into the family… so that I was rather regarded as an impertinent intruder” (Charke 11). This immediate disapproval from those closest to her may have had a major impact on her self-image and confidence later in her life. For example, in the letter to herself at the beginning of the story, she says that she has never seen herself as a friend, and speaks of herself in a very
Central Christian Academy The World of World War Two Teagan Grosvenor Writing Seminar Mrs. Zuercher May 11, 2023 World War Two was an era of time when there was tension in our world, that built until one day in 1939, when it all exploded. World World Two has a rich history that led up to some of our most advanced technological advantages. We learned a great amount from our mistakes and our victories through that period of time.
ANALYSIS As mentioned beforehand, deception damages a child’s self-esteem. This situation often happens in a dysfunctional family. Initially, the narrator was seeing her mother for the first time since the divorce which led to result her behaviour fear. The narrator missed the tender care that the mother had shown to her family. However, she also kept in mind the mother’s reaction when the father approved the divorce and her threats of setting fire to herself with kerosene.
She interprets the idea as if the reader does not believe on a God. O’Connor also carefully draws out her characters. O’Connor made the Grandmother a women so that any reader felt lower than and feel below in authority. The grandmother is shown as a pushy woman with characteristics of selfishness. These characteristics show when she insisted on going to the old house.
Lola takes advantage of her deteriorating mother whose illness represents the declining hold of the norms over Lola. Since her mom “will have trouble lifting her arms over her head for the rest of her life,” Lola is no longer afraid of the “hitting” and grabbing “by the throat” (415,419). As a child of a “Old World Dominican Mother” Lola must be surrounded by traditional values and beliefs that she does not want to claim, so “as soon as she became sick” Lola says, “I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance and I eventually took it” (416). When taking the opportunity to distinguish herself from the typical “Dominican daughter” or ‘Dominican slave,” she takes a cultural norm like long hair and decides to impulsively change it (416). Lola enjoyed the “feeling in [her] blood, the rattle” that she got when she told Karen to “cut my hair” (418).
This grandmother is proven to be unsympathetic with the use of manipulation, sneakiness, dishonesty, and unconcerned with her family’s well-being. Throughout the beginning of the short story, the grandmother begins to show manipulation and sneakiness. She wants everything to be her way and to achieve that,
Throughout my upbringing, my parents and immediate family members were adamant about the prospects afforded by higher education. Above all, they portrayed higher education as the gateway to pursuing a career that I would be passionate about. I took their wisdom and sagacity to heart. I am now looking to advance my academic career through graduate-level scholarship and research focusing on drug discovery and medicinal chemistry.
Without the narrator’s courage, Grandma would have been buried in Bakersfield, where she didn’t want to be buried. Finally, Grandma is helpful when she brought the narrator’s family together. “When you’re family, you take care of your own” (Haslam 251). After Grandma passes, even though it is sad, she had helps her family bond and come
The setting allows the reader to understand how people without honour are seen as outcasts of the society and the existence of a woman’s virginity is seen as a measure of her honour, as well as a precious commodity, which can purchase the family’s social advancement, through a marriage of convenience. Ángela states that Santiago deflowered her, but since “…she looked for it in the shadows…”, even though “She only took the time necessary to say the name.” we question this piece of information and its reliability, due to it being precise but also vague at the same time. Due to their sister stating this, Pablo and Pedro Vicario are ordered to reinstate their “…sister’s lost honour…”, ironically by their mother, to meet the expectations of the community and it is up to them to spiritually retrieve their sister’s virginity by killing Santiago. This means the brothers cannot back down from “…the horrible duty that’s fallen on them…” as “…there’s no way out of this…”.
Her personal experience is socially and theoretically constructed and emotions play an essential role in the process of identity formation. Her identity is not fixed, which is portrayed by inquisitiveness that her own mother and Aunt thought she was possessed, enhanced and made this story an enriching experience. The family is the first agent of socialization, as the story illustrates, even the most basic of human activities are learned and through socialization people
Because the Grandmother's intentions still remain unclear of what she really wanted and meant. As well of her point of views of her religion and approach towards it. (The Moment of Grace).The religion of the grandmother is not very clear. She tends to be unpredictable, she doesn’t explains what she reallys means by certain things she says or the way she expresses herself. The grandmother is the center of the family, for she is the grace.
Her affair with Alcee is restoring her freedom within her marriage. The encounter plays as a reminder of her maiden days before she weds her husband. Back when she still had her freedom. Alcee regains his sense of freedom too. The affair is refreshing for them
