“Daniel 13” by Daniel Chacón is a story of two life changing occurrences. This starts with a beautiful, young, Latina woman. Susana is married to a rich American rancher, making her rise in society. Day by day as she walks through the fields two American farm owners fantasize about her. One day they break into her house and try to rape her, but she escapes leaving the injustice upon her. Word is spread and Daniel, a previous hardcore gangster who undergoes dramatic changes; after finding God, hears what has happened to Susana from people of the church. He knows he has to help her find true justice in the situation. By Daniel not going back to his old ways and using violence, but bringing the two men and Susana to ask for forgiveness. Therefore Chacón suggests that vengeance is not found with violence but found through faith in God.
The two old men buying there way out of there own guilt making Susana pay for there own mistake, not having any say towards her own rights. Hence making, “Her sudden position, a Latina with power, a Chicana with money, thrust her into many social spotlights” (Chacón 193). Shows how many people from the community viewed her after marrying her rich husband, she no longer has that power among others. She lost her place in society by the empowerment of the two men. They paid people to say untruthful things to the press such as, “[…] referring to the case as an attempted rape and called it a “sex scandal” (Chacón 197). By the men using there power as a form of injustice, that to this day is viewed as a male dominated way of unfairness. Therefore I believe that superiority does not change the choices one makes, but makes them stay with you.
The more you fight the more vengeance you are prone to use, this ha...
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...but will gather with the two men and, Susana to pray and make them ask for forgiveness for what they have caused amongst the community. Just like karma is a message that is seen throughout, it all comes back to you one way or another, and in this case it did to the two old men.
All in all, with Susana and Daniel’s life changing situations. It shows how one’s “moment of clarity” (Chacon 199) and faith for God can help find justice without using violence, as it happened with Daniel. Therefore indicating that with having the right set of mind will help out towards harsh decisions. Not using power in society to buy yourself out of the mistakes you put yourself into. In this case the two old men who used their power in society, by using money as a solution. Thus Chacón implying that to find justice, buying your way out of anything will never fix any mistake you’ve made.
Padilla accentuates the amount of suppression that these women lived through, notably how even those that did get their voices out happened to always be obscured by men. These narratives, often passed from one person to the other through oral means, are meant to show the authenticity of the claims made by women throughout the years that they are just as capable as men. One obvious issue with these accounts, however, is that they are passed down through oral dictation. Not only is misinterpretation an issue when it comes to vocal recollection, but so is the actuality that these expressed events may not have been that retained within the woman’s mind. Some of these anecdotes come from older women recounting something that happened to them in their early lives, leading to a possible misconstruction of believed events. Further, Padilla mentions that several times a woman would recount a story, and a man would come along and ‘tamper’ with it to make it more fitting to a patriarchal society. If these documents, even somewhat the ones in oral form, have been meddled with, one must ask the question of if they are still considered to be reliable, sincere, sources. While the research conducted and the information, besides the aforementioned points, is well thought out and analyzed, the fact that these sources could be misinterpreted put somewhat of a restraint
Rather, it criticizes this culture through its portrayal of women. The narrative is focused on a male and is told by a male, which reflects the male-centered society it is set in. However, when we compare how the narrator views these women to who they really are, the discrepancies act as a critique on the Dominican culture. Yunior, who represents the typical Dominican male, sees women as objects, conquests, when in fact their actions show their resistance to be categorized as such. Beli, whose childhood was filled with male domination by Trujillo and the family she worked for, attempts to gain power through sexuality, the avenue the culture pushes women toward. This backfires, creating a critique of the limited opportunities available for women. La Inca portrays a different side to this, working quietly but in ways that are not socially acceptable through self-employment. Society attempts to cage these women, but they continue to fight against it. Diaz, in an interview, quoted James Baldwin, stating, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced" (Fassler). He exhibits the misogyny in the system but does not support it, rather critiques it through strong female characters. By drawing attention to the problem, the novel advocates for change. Diaz writes, at the end of part 1, “Nothing more exhilarating… than saving yourself by the simple act of waking”
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
Ana Castillo’s So Far from God (1993), begins its tale by immediately immersing the reader in the full drama that is typical of a Spanish soap opera describing the lives of five Hispanic women. The oldest daughter, Esperanza, wants to make a name for herself and succeeds in doing so by leaving Tome. Fe wants a normal life that she will never be able to have in Sofia’s household. Caridad is a simple soul that would have been content with her high school sweetheart had he not cheated on her. The youngest daughter, La Loca Santa, dies at age three and is resurrected to pray for the people. Lastly, Sofia turns out to be the strongest of the women in the novel by taking a stand for what she believes is right. Castillo uses Sofia and her four daughters to express her negative and distrustful view of patriarchy and oppression of women through class, gender and sexuality.
“Two sets of values coexist, compete, and more than occasionally blur: the ideals of machismo, with its cult of aggressive masculinity, defined as a mode of sexual and physical conquest; and the ideals of the revolutionary New Man, who is envisioned as hard working, devoted and family oriented (Lancaster, 1992; pg. 40).” For women, her traditional role was in the household taking care of the children, cleaning, cooking and washing as would be expected. Furthermore, she was unable to voice her objections or opinions to her husbands’ sometimes abusive tendencies, and from that the New Woman had evolved also. Women started to lose faith in the war, growing tired as they were losing many husbands and sons to the war. Throughout Lancaster’s Life Is Hard, one can watch as the behaviors and society gender roles start to change as the Sandinista Revolution continue...
...been racialized to maintain white supremacy and how they ignored until something out of the ordinary happens. The Bracero program may have played a part into the nurses accusatory tone because the Mexicans were only seen as manual labor to Americans in the 1940’s, so embedded into societies mind are still that Latino groups are only valuable to work low class labor jobs, not having a chance to climb up the hierarchy ladder by going to Ivy League schools. Her identity as an immigrant ultimately transcends all other identities at play, and makes her out to be unqualified for certain things in society. Sotomayor tries to prove her value by pursuing higher education at Princeton, but is labeled strictly as an “affirmative action” student who was able to gain access to the institution easier by being a racial group that has been historically excluded or discriminated.
Power, especially in the hands of females, can be a force for immense societal changes. Director Sciamma plays with the role of power in the lives of the four girls, predominantly in the character of Lady. Lady’s sense of control, stems from winning hand on hand fights, but the opinion of the men around her lays the foundation of this empowerment. The more fights Lady wins, the more the men appear to respect her, yet as feminist Simone de Beauvoir explains “[n]o matter how kindly, how equally men treated me when I tried to participate in politics, when it came right down to it, they had more rights, so they had more power than I did (Simone de Beauvoir - The Second Sex- ix),” the “power” Lady obtained was provisional. Lady’s power was directly tied to the opinion of the men around her, in this scene, a portion of the boys sits on stairs physically higher than Lady, invoking a sense of power hierarchy and control. The boys only valued Lady when she successfully participated in the their world of violence, but this participation came with boundaries as “[w]omen can never become fully socialized into patriarchy- which in turn causes man to fear women and leads then, on the one hand, to establish very strict boundaries between their own sex and the female sex (Feminist theory 142).” The men had never truly incorporated Lady into their group, she had just
Susan's parents taught her that in this world gender equality was important, specially their skin color, nationality, gender or mindset. Susan’s sister and their parents supported the cause of women, the right to vote. While his two brothers were in Kansas to support th...
...g unjust, immoral and of killing innocents. This testimony paints an ugly portrait of the United States, making the accusation that America cares more for profit than for the lives of its people, especially immigrant women. It makes a clear statement that if women are treated as secondary citizens, the immigrant workers are beneath them.
...d both of them do not quite understand what being saved actually means. In the end, “when she saw the man’s face twisted close to her own (367).” the grandmother realizes that she and The Misfit are both on the same level and she is no worse than the latter. Almost like taking a look into a mirror and pondering upon one’s own reflection. The story takes a quick pause, when the author writes the line, “His voice seemed to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instance (367).” What were the thoughts that went through the grandmother’s head? What happened during the “instance” that changed the grandmother’s view on her beliefs? The sole purpose of the phrase drowns a reader with questions and uncertainty. The story makes a final closure with The Misfit’s remark on how his source of happiness by performing violent acts brings “no real pleasure in life.”
By educating herself she was able to form her own opinion and no longer be ignorant to the problem of how women are judge by their appearance in Western cultures. By posing the rhetorical question “what is more liberating” (Ridley 448), she is able to get her readers to see what she has discovered. Cisneros also learned that despite the fact that she did not take the path that her father desired, he was still proud of all of her accomplishments. After reading her work for the first time her father asked “where can I get more copies” (Cisneros 369), showing her that he wanted to show others and brag about his only daughters accomplishments. Tan shifts tones throughout the paper but ends with a straightforward tone saying “there are still plenty of other books on the shelf. Choose what you like” (Tan 4), she explains that as a reader an individual has the right to form their own opinion of her writing but if they do not like it they do not have to read it because she writes for her own pleasure and no one else’s. All of the women took separate approaches to dealing with their issues but all of these resolutions allowed them to see the positive side of the
A question arises whether they felt “coerced” to use the court system because the judicial system was the only avenue, other than violence, in trying to right perceived wrongs. A careful examination of “Scandal at the Church: José de Alfaro Accuses Doña Theresa Bravo and Others of Insulting and Beating His Castiza Wife, Josefa Cadena (Mexico, 1782),” illustrates the surprising role of an elite court system as an equalizer within a socially-stratified society. More specifically to this case, the court acted as a vehicle to restore honour in an attack from an upper class society member to someone in a class lower. The chapter chronicled a criminal proceeding initiated by the plaintiff because of the injury and insult inflicted upon his wife by the defendant and her family. The physical injuries inflicted on José de
...of mixing the cultures and the identities of women. Her voice is what emphasizes the article to show how the goal is to redistribute the language and culture not criticizing the “New World”. This is what affects our future as a whole and challenges us to be “bridge the gap between marginal Latino/a culture and the American mainstream.” If society does not at least try to blend together, then it will cause into a huge war that possibly could never end. Just being that woman to show her passion and influence, can cause a great impact and force this world to acknowledge we all are the same.
In Latin America, women are treated differently from men and children. They do lots of work for unexplainable reasons. Others for religious reasons and family orders and others because of the men involved. Women are like objects to men and have to obey their orders to either be rich or to live. Some have sex to get the men’s approval, others marry a rich man that they don’t even know very well, and become slaves. An important book called Chronicles of a Death Foretold is an example of how these women are treated. Purisima del Carmen, Angela Vicario's mother, has raised Angela and her sisters to be good wives. The girls do not marry until late in life, rarely socializing beyond the outsides of their own home. They spend their time sewing, weaving, washing and ironing. Other occupations include arranging flowers, cleaning up the house, and writing engagement letters to other men. They also keep the old traditions alive, such as helping the sick, comforting the dying, and covering the dead. While their mother believes they are perfect, men view them as too tied to their women's traditions. The men are afraid that the women would pay more attention to their job more than the men. Throughout the book, the women receive the respect they deserve from the men and others around them.
In the Book women are looked upon as objects by men whether they are boyfriends, friends fathers or husbands. The girls in the novel grow up with the mentality that looks and appearance are the most important things to a woman. Cisneros also shows how Latino women are expected to be loyal to their husbands, and that a husband should have complete control of the relationship. Yet on the other hand, Cisneros describes the character Esperanza as being different. Even though she is born and raised in the same culture as the women around her, she is not happy with it, and knows that someday she will break free from its ties, because she is mentally strong and has a talent for telling stories. She comes back through her stories by showing the women that they can be independent and live their own lives. In a way this is Cinceros' way of coming back and giving back to the women in her community.