Jovita Gonzalez & Eve Raleigh’s Caballero: A Historical Novel, took place during the Mexican American War. While military officials from the United States were occupying Texas, Mexican men such as Don Santiago de Mendoza y Soria resisted the presence of the Americano. The novel focuses on the many injustices that occur within the Mexican population. One main problem that is presented is the social viewing of race and class. Mexican people with Spanish ancestry were more likely to be respected or accepted, while those whose blood was mixed were perceived as inferior.
In Munoz 's article "Leave Your Name at the Border," the author sheds light on how names can reflect an individual 's ethnicity and perhaps some negative qualities. Munoz also describes how he saw countless examples of people of similar backgrounds having to change their name to a more Americanized version. Munoz even tells a story of how his stepfather adopted an English name for the respect he would gain from others. He proceeds to further explain how the Anglicization of his stepfathers name, from Antonio to Tony, gave him "a measure of access as he struggled to learn English and get more fieldwork. " For Munoz ' stepfather, an English name gave him an American identity—one that many individuals hope will lead them and their families into
For as long as people can remember, the stereotype that men have “more power” than women in a relationship has been a relevant argument. In the novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accents the Author, Julia Alvarez, writes about four girls and part of that revolves around their relationships with men. In all of their relationships with men, he has the power in the relationship which means he makes the decisions for them. When they lived in the United States the girls and their mother had more say in the society. When they lived in the Dominican Republic men just saw them as submissive housewives who bear their children.
Alvarez and her family have a lot of trauma considering there lives in the dominican republic and living under the dictator,through it all alvarez's parents raised a daughter who would share their story in a fashionable matter that told the story how it was.
In Munoz's, "Leave Your Name at the Border", the main element that was being talked about was the fact that when people, immigrants specifically, come into this country, they feel that there is a social pressure that is being put upon them so that they will fit in. This pressure tends to make people do things such as change their names in order to fit in. An example in his situation would be that his stepfather changed his name from Antonio to Tony in an effort to "Anglicanize" it. This concept of fitting in has become a big struggle for many people that are currently here, and also for those who want to come here. An overwhelming sense of social pressure overcomes those who feel like outsiders because their identities do not fit in to the
Anzaldúa was a Mexican American who was a well-known writer and had a major impact on the fields of queer, feminist, and cultural theory. Her most famous work is Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza which includes poems, essays, and short stories. Anzaldúa was no stranger to the use of literary theories in her writing, which is evident in her short story “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Here, the author uses a combination of feminist, reader-response, and psychoanalytic theory to show the struggle of being oneself when they’re Mexican-American. Through the use of feminist theory, she explains how a female is labeled as an “habladora” when she tries to voice out her opinion about something; reader-response theory provides the reader with an understanding of the struggles of self-identity, which they are able to relate to, especially Mexican-Americans; and lastly, psychoanalytic theory illuminates on her childhood experiences, which could explain why Anzaldúa believes in what she does, such as the idea that Anglo people have tried to tame her tongue—in other words, her language.
narrator thinks of herself as American, not so much Japanese was her friend and the United States government does. Her identity is based on what she likes of her experiences, not so much for heritage. Cisneros 's narrator sees herself as very clearly different from her Mexican grandmother. But others charge for others Mexican
One of the area of conflict that rose in the book involves the usage of the English language in relation of the family’s native language, Spanish. As a Mexican-American raised in the States the exhibition of the English language, whether the use of the tongue is fluent or not, cause a strain in the Mexican culture as the culture takes in consideration of their romance and richness of history in their native tongue (Rothman 204). Language represent the supporting backbone of a person as the progress in life as the ability to communicate without misunderstands, however a person can cause the loss connection to the past romance of the culture and art of cultivation that brings the language to lifes from their inabilities to comprehend the ability/asset to its fullest potential (Rothman 204). To fully understand the true meaning behind a spoken chain of words can be understood by the method of trying to first comprehend the cultivation of the word and the definition behind them. Cisneros embeds the use of Spanish in fragments depicting a sense of reality within a fictional novel, Caramelo, as well with the use of interchangeable dialogues with spanish phrase to express the illustration of Celaya’s family and the culture in which is translate in of importance of pride.
She talks about all the odd handyman jobs he worked. Hernández talks about her father’s drinking problems and her struggles to understand her father. As she got older Hernandez began to understand her parents and in her father’s case began to try and come to terms with how she was treated and accept and forgive. Hernandez grew up in a home where her parents wanted what was best for her, yet wanted her to conform to her ethnic culture. Her whole life Hernandez was told what she should do and how to be Hispanic.
Per a sociological website named, Boundless.com, the term, social conflict, can be defined as, “the struggle for agency or power within a given society” (Boundless:online). The site further expounds that social conflict can also occur “when two or more people are in opposition with one another through social interactions, reciprocally exerting social power in an effort to attain scarce or incompatible goals, and prevent the opponent from attaining them” (Boundless:online). In the story, Like Water for Chocolate, written by Laura Esquivel, one can view the concept of social conflict transpiring in the relationship between Tita and her mother, Mama Elena.
He was curious about what they were talking about and tries to interpret the meaning form the facial expressions her mother made. She started learning English at Carol Morgan school and it was strange for her to see the American people and their appearances which differ from her. She got mixed up with Spanish and English as she starts to learn English.
A tongue is one of the most important body parts, if that’s what we shall call it, that a human being has. If it was not for the tongue, it would be a very quiet world. Gloria Anzaldúa, born in 1942, near the large Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, was bound to make a difference in lives before she ever knew it. When Gloria turned eleven she started to work in the fields as a migrant worker and then started on her family’s land after the passing of her father. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s the short story, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she describes her upbringing and growing up in a dual culture society split in two.
The identity is a struggle all by its self but imagine adding the men problem it sure is a hard situation. In the Memoir My Invented Country Isabel Allende was already clarifying that she was a feminist. She started noticing with her grandfather because “he was authoritarian and machistas; he was used to treating women like delicate flowers, but the idea of my intellectual respect for them never crossed his mind.” (Allende 112). Her grandfather did not notice her until she would argue with him when she was older.
In search for a better life outside of the Dominican Republic, Anita’s whole family tries to move to America. One day sitting in her room, Anita look out her window to see no one left on the compound. Anita explains, “I look out the door and down the dark driveway. The whole flock of our family has fled. Only Mami and Chucha and I are left (pg.100 p.9).”Her whole family has gone to America to be free, leaving everything behind.
Names/Nombres written by Julia Alvarez is a short story regarding a little girl, Hooleetah, moving with her family from the Dominican Republic to New York City in the 1960s. It is extremely clear within the beginning of the story that the girl absolutely despises it when people pronounce her, or her family's’ names wrong, this is proven when she corrects the customs officer under her breath when he mispronounces her family’s last name. “At Immigration, the officer asked my father, Mister Elbures, if he had anything to declare... but I said our name to myself, opening my mouth wide for the organ blast of trilling my tongue for the drumroll of the r, All-vab- rrr-es (Alvarez 1). As the story continues each member of her family is assigned with many different American names, as people found it hard to pronounce their actual names.
