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Summary Of The Short Story 'Norma' By Sonia Sanchez

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In the haunting short story entitled “Norma” written by author Sonia Sanchez, Sonia draws the story to a powerful end by vowing “never to agree again”. At a cursory glance, it appears that she is vowing never to meet Norma again. However, a deeper examination reveals that she makes this promise in order to affirm that she will never again agree to the rigged system that transformed an intelligent and promising young woman into a drug-addled mother of four.
As the opening lines of the story, Sanchez describes her own personality as a teenager as “... very shy. I walked with my head down, talked with my head down and would have slept with my head down if sleeping had required a standing position (1).”, which highlights the fact that Sonia is too busy attempting to remain inconspicuous to question the status quo. Consequently, she does not violate social expectations or take stands against bias or injustice. Sonia proves that she refused to notice systematic imbalance when she didn’t think it remarkable when Norma was expelled from school. Sanchez “doesn’t remember who it was ()” that impregnated Norma, and “old faces and names had faded into …show more content…

You were the genius. The linguist. You were the brain. We just studied and got good grades. You were the une who understood it all. And I started to cry… Tongue-tied by time and drugs, she smiled a funny smile… ()”. As Sonia recalls who Norma used to be and what she should have been, Sonia begins to cry because she realizes what society had robbed Norma of and forced Norma to become. Sanchez closes the story with the lines “Then I pulled myself up and turned away; never to agree again ().” because she is turning away from social injustices and never agreeing with the rigged system ever

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