Kaleidoscope

"In the movies there is always one with red red lips who is beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drives the men crazy and laughs them all away.  her power is her own.  She will not give it away.

 I have begun my own quiet war.  Simple. sure.  I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate."

The House on Mango Street

-Sandra Cisneros

 

I love how this girl wants to be so independent.  It is heartbreaking throughout the book to read of how limited the women are, how dependent they are of their spouses.  You have Rafaela who is not allowed to leave her house because she is too pretty, you have Sally who is beaten by her father and can't even talk to boys, Minerva whose husband beats her but she can never completely kick him out, Mamacita who moved there because of the man and hates every minute of it....  It almost makes me happy that she is fighting against 'the system' and that she doesn't want to conform.

I know that machismo has been a huge part of most cultures in the past. The man is in charge, he provides and the women bears children and cooks and cleans. I know there have been a lot of changes in many societies, but this is still pretty normal in many places and it makes me sad. There is so much potential that never gets discovered, so many dreams that are squashed.

 

While I am not a hardcore feminist, I love cooking and want to be a stay at home mom if at all possible, this is too much for me.  Everyone deserves some independence, space to realize their dreams and have a chance at doing what they want.  Everyone should be allowed friends and should be able to voice their opinion and know that it is taken into consideration.

In what ways does our society limit people?  We have many women in the workforce, stay at home fathers, opportunities to do what we want.  Are there ways that we are being limited and stifled?




 

Solitude

I would have to say that one of my favorite readings to this day was "The Labyrinth of Solitude" by Octavio Paz.

 He presented some really cool ideas that, while I am sure that I have thought of them before, I didn't know how to put into words.  He is really good about defining things, spelling things out. 

To me he started to answer the question of why we can feel so alone when we are actually surrounded by people who love us.  I say only that he 'started to answer' because while he has some really good ideas I still think that there is more that goes into it.  However, I just loved the points of view that he presented in his book.  His writing style was easy for me to follow and not all flowery and poetical, and while it wasn't exactly a story with characters and a plotline (I usually tend to enjoy those a whole lot more) he did a really good job at keeping the reader interested and wanting to contine reading. 
I didn't necessarily agree with his views on love and marriage, but that is what is great about reading and learning, you can take the things that you really like and put them into your personal book of beliefs and values, while at the same time discarding things you don't agree with. 
     This class has taught me a lot about being able to do that, with the books that we read, the music we listen to and the pictures that we look at.  They can be interpreted many ways and represent different things to different people.  We need to find the things that we like in this life and pull them out and apply them, but we also need to realized that someone else might see it differently than us.  In our discussions I have seen many times where peoples opinions differ, some see a picture as an artists way of denouncing the encroachment of civilization whereas someone else sees it as accpetance of it.  It is to our best advantage to listen to the point of view of others because we might be missing out on something really cool

Loved Ones

"I will go with one understanding," Ultima cautioned.  She raised her finger and pointed at both of them.  The gaze of her clear eyes held them transfixed.  "You must understand that when anybody, bruja or curandera, priest or sinner, tampers with the fate of a man that sometimes a chain of events is set into motion over which no one will have ultimate control.  You must be willing to accept this responsibility."
My uncle looked at my mother.  Their immediate concern was to save Lucas from the jaws of death, for that they would accept any responsibility.

"Bless Me, Ultima"

In this song, at the end when the boy actually loves the girl he offers his wallet, his Grandfather's pocket watch, anything he can to get her away from the thief.  Eventually he offers the breath from his body and even himself in he place of his wife when she is struggling after childbirth...

We are so willing to do whatever it takes to protect those that we love.  We accept any consequence, we make deals with other people and we even try to make deals with God at times.  Ultima warns them here that no one knows what will happen if she saves Lucas, but it could come at great price.  I think that often, when people are so desperate they would sell anything, do anything in order to help our friends or family.  There are many movies out there with parents who would go to the ends of the earth, hold up an entire hospital, make deals with dangerous people or even sell themselves to the devil for the protection of their children.

Why do we get so irrational in these circumstances?  I know that we love them, we want what is best for them, but to go to te extent of breaking the law, doing what we know is wrong and accepting whatever consequences come with it...why?

 This song is about a parent praying so hard over their child, also offering to take his place if the Lord will just save the life of the child.

I don't know where we start believing that we can bargain that way with God.  Do you think that it works?  Do you think that showing that kind of desire makes a difference?  I know that it maks us feel better, like it is the only thing that we can do to help, but why do we do it?

What if...

"My father nodded.  I saw him stand beside Chávez and put his arm around his shoulders. Now he too was armed.  I had only seen him shoot the rifle when we slaughtered pigs in the fall.  Now they were going armed for a man."

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya pg. 17

What happens when the common man has to take up the sword, or rather the gun in this case?  Latin and South America are full of civil wars, revolts and times when one had to take up arms or suffer.  As in this story, many of them were not traind for war, they were common people just living their lives, but when the situation became dire they would pick up whatever they had and fight for their rights. 

This idea of people having to pick up and leave their normal, everyday lives and go to war is a recurring one throughout history.  In the Triple Alliance War the army that Brazil formed was made out of 'volunteers' from the poor and the slaves.  They were taken from their everyday life, given a gun and sent out to use it.  In the war for independence and freedom from Great Brittain here in the United States, not everyone in the U.S. was trained in the military, yet people were needed to fight against the Brittish troops so anyone who could and wanted to joined in.  And what about being drafted during the war....

I thought it was really interesting how he chose to include this line into the book, that the dad was taking something that the children had often seen used.  Something that was used to bring them food and proffit by killing the pigs; something that was now being prepared to possibly take the life of another human being.

Would you be able to do that?  If asked to go to war could you pick up a gun and go?  How about if you were in the place of Antonio's father, could you just pick up a gun and go?

I do appreciate though on the next page when they find the man responsible, that Narciso tries to reason with the men reminding them that this is a man, not an animal.  So although he is prepared and ready to do whatever is necessary, he is not blind to others and does not enjoy bloodshed.

So one last question, would we be in the angry mob, clamoring for justice and ready to shoot the man on the spot, or would we be like Narciso and try and reason with him and avoid the bloodshed?  Or will we even have the choice if it comes to this kind of situation?