ipl-logo

Personal Identity In The Gilda Stories By Jewelle Gomez

724 Words3 Pages

The experiences you go through in life help form your personal identity . In the novel The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez, the main character, later named ‘Gilda’, goes through a lot. This novel follows the life of Gilda; the girl, the first chapter being in 1850. We see her 200 years of life as a vampire. Gilda experienced a lot of trauma and was lost. She obtained separation anxiety and then Gilda had to get used to her new life. Gilda went through alot of trauma but overcame, had she not gone through what she went through, she would be a completely different person. Gilda experienced a ton of trauma. The girl escaped and “had traveled by night for 15 hours before daring to stop”(9). In those 15 hours she had a knife held close to her chest. She found a barn and decided to stay there but a bounty hunter came in and “she looked up at the beast from this other land as he dragged her leg from the concealing straw” (11). The bounty hunter was about the rape her as “he rubbed his body against her brown skin and imagined the closing of her eyes as a need for him and his power. He started to enter her, but before his hand finished pulling her open, she entered him with her heart, which was now a wood handled knife”(11). Gilda was now severely traumatized which mentally matured her in at such a young age. …show more content…

She brings the girl back to her home to ‘Woodards’ which is a diverse building where Gilda and her girlfriend Bird live, but it's also where eight other women work as sex workers. The girl was taken very young so she never got to learn to read or write so “it was Bird who decided she would teach the girl to read” (20)because Bird thought now would be a good time to teach her. Gilda found herself a family and was no longer a lost

Show More
Related
265 Words | 2 Pages

As the story progresses we come to understand the reason behind all of this. Unfortunately her home life is not the best as she lost her brother and her mother a victim of attempting

Read More
359 Words | 2 Pages

The book is mostly about the 11 year crusade of Barb Thompson to clear her daughter 's name. Throughout the book the author claims that it was apparent that Ronda would never commit suicide. Through what Barb believed: " ' Your daughter commit suicide.

Read More
593 Words | 3 Pages

After being rescued Jaycee had to learn how to live as an adult in the real world. When she was rescued the only thing she could think to do was reunited with her mother. The whole time she was held hostage at the Garridos the only thing she wanted was her mother. Jaycee had lost her whole childhood while she was at the Garrido’s. She didn’t get to go to school, hang out with friends, learn how to drive, playing sports,going on dates, or anything that most teenagers have the opportunity to do in there life.

Read More
694 Words | 3 Pages

I believe a difficult moment for her was when her mother and Lori went away for the summer and left her in charge to pay the bills and feed the kids. Her father kept asking for money and as he expected her to do she would hand it over. He eventually convinced her that for her to get the money back he needed her to go on a “business trip” with him. This trip entailed her practically being sold to a man for sex by her own father. She kept thinking that her father would stop this man or that her father would come save her if anything were to happen.

Read More
347 Words | 2 Pages

The poem/short stories written by Julia Alvarez (Names/Nombres) and Sandra Cisneros (My Name) both talk about the issues of identity and culture. Alvarez talks about the relationship between her Spanish/Dominican heritage and her American identity while Cisneros more so talks about the importance of holding onto her cultural heritage. They both use metaphors, imagery, and symbolism to showcase their messages and talk about the complexities of cultural identity. Alvarez uses metaphor when she uses her name, “Hoo-lee-tah”, as a metaphor for her own identity, which she has grown to be caught between her cultural identity and her American identity. She’s torn between the desperate want to fit in and not stick out like a sore thumb, and the pressure

Read More
732 Words | 3 Pages

Her childhood was not like many children; it was a dark, scary and unhappy time in her life that left scars on her mental and physical health. So, that is why at the age of 12 she ran away from her home to live with her strict grandmother who agreed to train and educate

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

One of them being Amber engaged in self-harm by cutting herself. According to Perry, cutting may have been a way for her to cope with anxiety triggered by revisiting traumatic memories or simply dealing with the stresses of daily life (180).The traumatic events were intensified by several factors, including the fact that the perpetrator was a person who was relied on heavily by Amber's mother as a financial supporter and partner. This made Amber too scared to disclose the ongoing abuse by Duane, who even threatened her with worse consequences if she told her mother. Additionally, Duane's remorseful behavior towards Amber, such as showering her with gifts to make up for his actions, created conflicting emotions in her. In order to fully understand and diagnose Amber's PTSD, it is important to consider various risk factors that contributed to her condition.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

As a Cuban-born woman, my expected role in society is clearly defined; my thoughts and personality have a mold into which they must fit. However, a month before my fifth birthday my family made the decision to move to the United States and in doing so liberated me from these expectations and gave me the freedom to explore my own interests and beliefs. Ten years later, they were making preparations for my Quinciañera. Due to my Cuban heritage, my coming of age was set to be commemorated by a very long and very expensive night of food, dance, and family. For the same cost as the down payment on a relatively small house, I would be given the opportunity to put on a show in a dress that restricted my airways and provide food and drink for about

Read More
1373 Words | 6 Pages

In our short lives, we meet so many people and most we will not remember in a few years (besides our families of course). Once in a while you meet a special person that never leaves your memories for me, that person is Sierra Lourdes Guitron. We met about eight years ago in 4th grade when we were both around eight or nine years old. Of course, at the time we never imagined we would grow this close; actually, we did not even have a full conversation until 8th grade!!! We became best friends in 9th and since then we have been close to inseparable!

Read More
1482 Words | 6 Pages

The Search For Self Identity From birth we all have our own journeys to establish ourselves and our self identities, this story is no different. It's just a boy trying to find out where and how he belongs in the world he was born into. Matt is to believe he is nothing like a human and could never accomplish anything in which a human being could, or strive to become better, to become something more. But we discover that this isn't true. Matt is much more and strives to become more.

Read More
1157 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout my life I have come from and created a few identities for myself. Perhaps, the most dominant identities that have been apart of my life are being an athlete and being a family orientated man. In this paper I will write about how my identities have shaped my life. First off I believe my biggest identity is being an athlete.

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

“We read it for months, so many times that the book became tattered and sweat stained, it lost its spine, came unearthed, sections fell apart […] but we loved it dearly” (68). Reading created joy between the girls, strengthening their friendship and their will to escape the encompassing darkness of the neighbourhood. Each moment spent reading in the courtyard was one where they could be children, creating an inseparable bond. There was no worry of the past becoming present, in fact, the book drove them to desire a better future. Little Women provided a luminosity from the injustices they suffered, like Lila’s inability to continue her education.

Read More
440 Words | 2 Pages

I identify as a Latina. I have always considered myself as a Latina, but throughout time, I believe that I have assimilated more into a white individual because of the privilege that I hold and because I have lived in the US most of my life. I have received mostly negative messages from those who are not from my ethnicity. My peers and I were told we wouldn’t graduate high school and be laborers for the rest of our lives. With the current politics, I believe that this still holds true where some people still hold stereotypes and give oppressing messages to Latinos.

Read More
1689 Words | 7 Pages

The characters around her did not attempt to help her out, causing her to commit suicide. Similar to a child, a child talks

Read More
535 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Personal Identity In The Gilda Stories By Jewelle Gomez

Related Topics

Open Document