Southwestern Literature @universalwritercc-blog - Tumblr Blog

“Is the border all hate and fear and bad craziness? No. Of course not. Just like the Border Patrol agents aren’t all racist monsters looking to crack beaner heads. Just like the smugglers aren’t all savage beasts looking to slaughter innocents for filthy lucre... well, not all of them. Jst like the walkers aren’t slobbering rapists and murderers--in spite of the blazing sign we float over their heads: ILLEGAL” (Urrea 233).

Urrea is right, Mexicans are our brothers and sisters, they are family, they are our neighbors--how can one step make them illegal, criminal, less than human? It can’t. Taking this course at a time when the border is such a political issue has only deepened my commitment to fight against the prejudices that come from the mouths of the uneducated, the privileged, and/or the ignorant. I love unconditionally, but the unlovable are harder to love (the wicked)--work in progress. Shame on both the Mexican and U.S. governments (and all governments) for not working together to make our lands great--the funding that is wasted could solve poverty and unite our countries for the good of everyone. Sad read, but an important one.

“Lower wages, cheaper product, unclaimed federal taxes, unclaimed state taxes, unused Social Security” (Urrea 216). I love the documentation that Urrea uses as he tells the events of the Yuma 14 story. It makes me believe even more that we are neighbors--the American and Mexican governments should invest in them and then there would be no border problem. I like the quote that talked about “illegals.” There should not be such a thing--I agree full-heatedly. In all my experiences with our neighbors from the South--I just love them. And one last praise to Urrea, his view on what Jesus would say about deportation--something people must really think deeply about, the answer is easy. Saddest book all semester because it’s now, it’s all still happening and especially with this administration and the immigration policies that will be breaking up children from their parents--what the hell? I already felt this way last year, now, I am wondering where morality is hiding:(

“Laura was found dead on the trail by a recreational walker. Joseph was in sight of their car, parked in the lot. ..., Hyperthermia will do that to you, make you clumsy. He hit dark rock and never got up” (Urrea 119).

This shows that the desert doesn’t discriminate, even people with just bad luck can be devoured in the Southwest desolation.

“When the hell was it going to cool off?” (Urrea 137)

“It’s just a few more miles,” Mendez told them, but they already understood that he was wrong” (Urrea 137).

I can only imagine the fear that all the men must have felt at this point. It does make me ask why did they continue to follow him from the first moment they knew he was lost, this would have been the moment I would have re-evaluated the situation and found my own way--without continuing to go left. Their fate is now pretty well sealed.

The desert of the Southwest obviously has many dark secrets that are forever bound to silence. Only through accounts written, such as in this documentary style, descriptive narrative “Desert Highway,” do we witness the process of the journey out of poverty into a carnivorous vastness of burning hell--the desert and desert tyrants swallow up the majority of prey and a few, if fortunate, are left to tell of the ones that were lost along the way. Tragic is an understatement, it is hard to understand the mentality of the cruel--the lack of human compassion for the deprived--it is so unfair that the system works (doesn’t work) as it does.

“Nobody wanted them when they were alive, and now look--everyone wants to own them” (Urrea 33). What a line--I feel the truth in this one.

I just can’t say enough about “Brownsville.” I loved all the stories, even the ones that were bizarre because it felt like he captured much of the characteristics of border cities. It is one thing to live in the interior of the U.S., but we are fortunate to live near the border and understand the contributions that our Mexican and Mexican/American families have on the life styles we have become accustomed to enjoying. Living most of my life in New Mexico, I have always taken for granted the wonderful diversity that we have been blessed with. I watched a PBS news program this morning and was so surprised when they talked about the way to really fix the border problem because I have been saying it for a long time now. Instead of spending billions of dollars trying to do what has never worked, spend it on improving our backyard--help our neighbor--invest in the Mexican people in Mexico and literally eat the fruit of that new policy/economic shift! Love our neighbor--where does this fit into things and I am not religious--I am spiritual and believe only in unconditional love and equality for all.

We can see in “Charro,” as in some of the other stories, that a contact zone between in-laws and son-in laws is common place--daughters marrying beneath their families requirements or expectations and Marcelo was no exception. “This was always a sacrifice for Marcelo since her family had never cared for him. The mother had been of the opinion that her only daughter could have done better than to marry a man who was twelve years older and raised in the country. She never accepted that he’d walked away from that world, from everything he knew, in order to provide a better life for her daughter” (Casares). I liked this story because he finally comes to a place where he, in his own way, makes peace with Charro--he actually starts making the barking dog early hours pay off for him. It was also ironic that his wife ends up accidentally killing the dog where Marcelo has to think about how his neighbor would view the incident and ends up upgrading the burial site with a make shift coffin which makes him have to work harder to dig the bigger hole. Loved the story!

“They have a park down the street, but you’ll never never see him there” (Casares). I really liked “Big Jesse, Little Jessie and the way he describes his son makes me think that he, like many men, would like his son to be. He would like to play ball and all that, but Little Jesse is a reader and smart like his mother. One of my best friends has a son that was just like that, we use to laugh about her having to punish him by sending him outside. If she sent him to his room, he was quite happy. The relationship is somewhat strained because Little Jesse’s mother wants her son to do good in school and go to college and is very protective--understandable. This story is so good because it describes so many relationships I have known regardless of race and culture.

“The The dude had rto check around to make sure nobody had seen him jump back and almost drop his beerin the dirt.”

“It was still lunchtime and cars were parked up and down the street” (Casares Loc. 458).

I think we can all identify with the characters in these stories, these lines caught my attention right away in “Chango.” I felt bad for Bony in this story even though he was not doing right. The contact zone between him and his father and mother was evident as in many families I know having these same type issues. One thing I notice in common with the sleeping all day thing is that in my experience I see those as having things that went wrong in their lives very often. I think that mental illness is so often missed and often there are very evident signs but they are missed or misinterpreted. I know that he points out that he was always the goof off, but I believe that now he also suffers from guilt and remorse--you would think his father would make him seek counseling, but as with real life, he doesn’t. This is what I love so much about these stories is that they all feel familiar.

I really liked this statement from “RG,” “I’ve lived and worked with gringos my whole life. Gringos, mexicanos, negros, chinos. It makes n difference to me. I’ve always been more interested in living next to honest people than anything else. After that, they can be any color they want” (CCasares Loc. 327).

How could anyone argue with this--my sentiments exactly. It’s a great example of the ideology of the protagonist.

“The old man nodded. “How old are you, son?” “Eleven.”

“Eleven?” the old man said. “N’hombre, by the time I was your age I had a job and my own money” (Casares Loc. 54).

This shows the value that is placed on working hard from an early age till you die. I do love the “cultural principles” these stories brought to the forefront through the characters and the narrative. I have seen this very characteristic my whole life myself, I believe this trait lives on--at least we still see it in the older Spanish men and women here in the Southwest--truly remarkable and resilient people.

I found it interesting how two people can see things or feel about things so much differently. Past experiences and memories from the past can make people see things differently. Look at the distance between how one persons views this place as compared to the other’s view: “Driving down streets with buildings that remind him, he says, how charming this city is. And me remembering when I was little, a cousin’s baby who died from swallowing rat poison in a building like these. That’s just how it is. And that’s how we drove. With all his new city memories and all my old” (Cisneros Loc. 1150).

This type of thinking about someone, something, or someplace happens all the time and that is why we sometimes don’t agree with each other--we must remember that one persons experiences will not be the same as another persons and this will make us look at things differently. I love so many of these little nothings that mean so much in the Cisneros stories.

“Los Boxers”

A simple story, but so sad. He now does his clothes as his wife died. Is it true that ice cubes helps with stains--never heard this before. This little story made me sad. His wife probably took care of everything in his life and then he had to start learning and doing for himself. I don’t know why but this one made me very sad.

“Never Marry a Mexican”

What a story, it was wild. I found this part funny and vindictive at the same time, as if Drew deserved the explaining he would have to do--she hid all the gummy bears in “places only the wife would look.” Then she took the smallest doll and dropped it in the stinky creek--bitter woman. his woman is mental--sleeping with the son was shocking--horrible woman. This line was accurate, “I’m guilty of having caused deliberate pain to other women. I’m vindictive and cruel, and I’m capable of anything” (Location 915). The only people I felt for in the story was the wife and her son. I would think that Drew would not want his son learning from this untrustworthy woman--yikes!

One Holy Night: I love the quote below. I have told my daughter something like this since she was a teenager. This is a keeper--and I’m sending it to her; she will smile when she reads it. Our children never understand why we tell them things sometimes, but now she understands.

“About the truth, if you give it to a person, then he has power over you. And if someone gives it to you, then they have made themselves your slave. It is a strong magic. You can never take it back” (Cisneros Location 379).

After finishing all the stories, I found that most of them were outstanding. There was only a few that either made no sense to me or didn’t move me in any way. I love the humor of the author. Even in the names of some of the characters, like in, “My Tocaya,”----“Sister Virginella.” These were for the most part very easy reads. I do like some of the back and forth Spanish language intermingled with English, it gives it a beautiful flare--even when I don’t know exactly what is being said. It makes it sound more authentic, great touching stories with many of the same themes we have already seen in the other stories!

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