A Comparison Of Values In Abuela Invents The Zero?

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Values -Everyone has them. Where do those values come from? In literature, one can find the answer to that question by taking a close look at characters and their values. They can be compatible to real life experiences. Look at the two stories, "Abuela Invents the Zero" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The main characters in the stories are Constancia from "Abuela Invents the Zero" and the Four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy, and Beth from Little Women. These two stories demonstrate how Experiences can shape, and change values. In the beginning of both of the pieces of literature, the main character(s) have not had the experience that will shape their values yet. Rather, as time moves forward in the stories, the …show more content…

This is what will start to shape their values. To start of, in "Abuela Invents the Zero", Constancia has to take her grandmother to church even though she absolutely does not want to. At the church Connie is again embarrassed with her grandmother. One might say that she is inconsiderate and does not value family for who they are. "I keep my head down like I’m praying so as not to see or be seen." This is in the story, and she does these things to not be embarrassed by her grandmother. This would probably hurt her grandmother's feelings, knowing that her granddaughter does not value the way that she feels. Later on in the story an event takes place that changes Constancia values on other people and their feelings. Moving to the next part in Little Women ,Mary and her sisters go to eat their Christmas breakfast with all of the good food, but they are asked to make a self sacrificing decision. Their mother asks them to give up their delicious Christmas breakfast even though they were very hungry, and give it to a poor immigrant family that really needs it, and instead accepting gruel as their Christmas meal. "Not far away from here lies a poor woman with a little newborn baby. Six children are huddled into one bed to keep from freezing, for they have no fire. There is nothing to eat over there, and the oldest boy came to …show more content…

Constancia from "Abuela Invents the Zero" has the experience of losing her grandmother in the church. Instead of being a good granddaughter and searching high and low for her grandmother, Constancia hides herself in embarrassment, and abandons her grandmother. "I put my hands over my face like I’m praying, but it’s really to hide my burning cheeks. I would like for her to disappear. I just know that on Monday my friends, and my enemies, in the barrio will have a lot of senile grandmother jokes to tell in front of me. I am frozen to my seat. So the same woman who wants me dead on the spot does it for me. She makes a big deal out of getting up and hurrying to get Abuela." So, Connie did not care about finding her grandmother, but cared about her reputation with her friends. So, another woman at the church had to look for her grandmother. After this, when her grandmother is found, Connie's grandmother is hurt and tells her "You made me feel like a zero, like a nothing." Then Constancia feels bad and has to talk to her grandmother. So going through the experience of losing her grandmother in a church, and then not even bothering to look for her, and then feeling bad afterwards has shaped Connie's values to not caring about the feelings of her grandmother to caring about what she says and does to her, and maybe it opened up her eyes to valuing all of her family member's and

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