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Meaning Of The Poem Elena By Thi Pat Mora

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Many Mexican Americans who grow up with only Spanish-speaking parents understand the struggles of watching their loved ones learn to speak English. Pat Mora is a Hispanic poet who often writes about what it is like to be a Mexican-American woman living on the border of Mexico and the United States. Her works of literature touch on the cultural differences between Mexicans and Americans, mainly what the majority of Hispanics face throughout their lifetime and how different their lives are from others. Many Hispanics/ Latino people face language barriers, whether it was them learning or the people around them. Pat Mora wrote her poem “Elena” in 1985. This poem is the topic of familial relationships and home life as well as the main theme of the poem being self-isolation. Mora describes the struggles of a Mexican mother who moves out of her home country to start a better life for her and her family: The language barriers she must try to overcome will affect her life indefinitely mentally and emotionally, changing her forever. …show more content…

This work of literature has the theme of self-isolation from family, and the tones of sadness and guilt. As she touches on what it's like for a mother in her mid 40s to pick up a new language, Mora tells a touching story about her life. Touching on the main character's true inner feelings, her experience, and how she chooses to cope with the situation. Elena's situation is not one that many people can relate to so when Mora was able to interpret her situation so well it was incredible. The language barriers that Elena was trying to overcome affected her life indefinitely, mentally and emotionally, and even changing her forever. From how she perceives herself as a person and how people around her perceive her. How she looks at herself as a person and a mother and whether she feels she is capable of giving her children the best life

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For instance, when Elena said,“I stand by the stove, and feel dumb, alone” (Mora, 11) it suggested that she began to feel that she was incompetent and she felt poorly about herself, because she was unable to understand the language. Furthermore, when Elena mentions “I’m forty, embarrassed at mispronouncing words” (Mora,16) it emphasizes that Elena was not confident about herself herself enough, because she thought that she was going to be unable to learn English at such a late age. Therefore, she began to be doubt herself a lot. Moreover, when she mentions, “I bought a book to learn English/ for if I stop trying, I will be deaf/when my children need my help,”it suggested that Elena believed that she was useless and worth lessless to her children, because she felt like she was not helping them as she used to when she was in Mexico. Therefore, she decided to learn English in order to be able feel worthy and useful to her

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