When Maria awakens several hours later the moon is now gone but it is still night. She decides one of the village people might know.
She only walks a short distance before she sees the village light. The village is filled with light and people. The warmth of it would overwhelm the average person. Luckily, Maria's Heartless.
She glances around the village, trying to find a sturdy face of which she can question.
"No!" A man's voice exclaims from a shadowed corner. Maria sees the women from last night with her arms draped around a man's waist. "Be lost, you jade. I am a man of morals. I shall not practice in your immorality," he yells.
"Adultery? Is that what you think this is?" she asks. Yammy slips her hand in his pocket, pulling out a small brown pouch. She grasps it in his hands, and he does not notice. "If I had a husband I wouldn't be doing this."
"Fine then, slattern. Does that please you?" he asks. Maria notice he makes no attempt to push her away.
"The only thing that pleases me anymore is feeding my kids," she shoots back. He now pushes her off of him and she stumbles against a wall. "Fine, be off with you then," she screeches. "I have plenty of other costumers."
She rounds the corner, passing right by Maria. Maria chases after her.
"Wait!" she calls to the woman.
She turns to face Maria, and instantly recognizes her. Her eyes widen, but after a moment she starts to laugh. "Do you plan to steal from me in a crowded market?" she questions.
"I saw what you did back there," Maria tells her.
She starts to walk away, and Maria follows behind her. "Go on, tell the world. You won't be the first to spread rumor of my business," she dares her.
"It was brilliant," Maria says.
The woman stop and spins aroun...
... middle of paper ...
..." Maria said flatly.
They went back to the cave where Maria shared a pile of hey with Yammy since Kimmy would quote, "Kill the little thief in her sleep."
Maria refused to let herself sleep. Once she heard Yammy breathing slow to a sleep pattern she took her bag of money and was off.
She wondered around till she found what she was looking for, though she had no idea she was looking for it.
There is a small gap between Maria and a ledge. From the edge you can walk to a boulder. Maria knew she was going to have to climb around the boulder in order to go where she wanted to get where she desired.
However, the gap between her and the ledge was not an easy jump. If she missed, she would fall to her death.
Maria studies the gap. She tries to decide the best angle to jump from. Jumping straight on would probably give her the most possibility of survival.
Throughout the last sixteen chapters of the novel Maria describes how Carter and Helene visit her in a Neuropsychiatric facility and lets us, the readers know what happened in the desert. In chapter sixty-nine Carter asks Maria not to come to the set because her presence makes his new lover (Susannah Wood) nervous. The town they (the crew: Carter, Susannah, BZ, Helene, Harrison Porter, and Maria) were in was between Death Valley and the Nevada line. No one thought of as a town at all, only Maria did. She thought so, because the town was bigger than Silver Wells and had a motel, two gas stations, fresh meat and vegetables store, a Pentecostal church, and the bar that served only beer. Also, there was a bathhouse, which attracted elderly to the town. A major drawback of the town was that with the temperatures as high as 120- 130 the conditioners did not work. In the next chapter Maria asked Carter whether he liked having sex with Susannah. His response was that he did not particularly enjoy it. After that all of the crew members except Maria drove to Las Vegas. There, Susannah was beaten up in a room by Harrison Porter. In the same chapter (72) BZ reveals to Maria that Carter and Helene had been sleeping together. When Carter asked Maria what did she want her response was “I
Mama said Maria was very pretty before the incident, and that she looked like a princess in her wedding dress at the altar, but after she was stood up, she lost her mind and beauty. Cofer describes her in her mind as a woman with a fat, middle-aged body, a wrinkly face with yellowed teeth like an old lady, and the demeanor of a child, hopping and skipping around. Cofer offers a description of Maria’s decline in beauty and mental health because that is what Mama believes will happen to a woman who is too trusting and does not choose her husband
Unfortunately, Maria is constantly aware of the children missing from her life and is border-lining depression. Didion shows readers many symptoms of Maria’s depression throughout the novel. For example, the narrator says “When she got home she thought about calling him [Les Goodwin], but instead she went upstairs and lay face down on Kate’s empty bed, cradled Kate’s blanket, clutched Kate’s baby pillow to her stomach and fought off a wave of the dread” (Didion 23). It is obvious that Maria is depressed; however, she cannot confide in anyone. She cannot confide in Carter because he is emotionally distant nor can she confide in her lover Les Goodwin because he is a married man. Thus, leading to Maria becoming self-destructive and unintentionally seeking an identity. For example after a party, Maria “was stopped for speeding outside Tonopah and when the highway patrolman saw the silver dress and the bare feet and the Ferrari registered to someone else” the officer found out it was indeed stolen ( Didion 154). Didion creatively shows readers that Maria is acting out unintentionally because of her lack of control over life. In fact, someone who was in his or her right mind would have not stolen a car from a famous person like the one Maria did. The people in Maria’s life Maria’s notices there is a problem and start to worry about her well-being. This is shown when
The author explains different situations she has been exposed to throughout her life. The main factor that differentiates her case from the others is her level of education. She has been educated and has been exposed to two different cultures. Due to these factors, she knows how to behave under different circumstances. A good example is when a drunk man offended her and she reacted by walking away instead of creating a big discussion. Maria’s friend complemented her for the cool handling of the situation. Another reason why she feels so proud of herself is because she took advantage of that education chance and does everything possible to keep growing up. She explains that sometimes she is sent to that “kitchen” where she belongs. Her genes will follow her everywhere and not matter where she is at, people will keep asking her where is she from.
Some of Maria’s strengths consist of her bravery. She is a first generation resident of the United States. She has a support system in her friend, Susan, as well as within her parents.
The path ran up a hill. Seems like there is chains about my feet… a bush caught her ...
Explained here is her method of overcoming the odds. Notice the mentioning of stairs here also. A ‘landin’ or ‘landing’, is a level area on top of a staircase that is usually between one flight of stairs and another. She’s saying here that though climbing life’s stairs came with the addition of hardships, she still managed to reach the next level.
In the story, “I Only Came to Use the Phone,” Maria is left alone in a sanatorium and reveals her weak and fragile mental state. This uncovers Maria's fatal flaw that will lead to her downfall. She becomes “crazy” because she never had much self-esteem. She has a problem settling down because she was married three times. This commitment issue greatly weakens her because of her many breakups. Finally, she marries a magician named Saturno who loves her more than anything. She changes when she is with Saturno. Maria quotes Vinicius de Moraes when asked by Saturno how long she will love him: “Love is eternal for as long as it lasts”(Marquez 80). When Maria becomes trapped in the mental asylum, she loses the steady presence of the man she loves. This breaks through her newly built self-esteem and leads to the demise of her mental health. When she is first in the sanatorium, Maria constantly asks, “Is there a telephone?”(Marquez 72). She is desperate to hold on to the life she had with him. Since the matrons of the sanatorium will not let her contact her husband, the bond that she has found with him is disconnected. She has only herself on whom to rely. The other inmates are completely insane and are useless to aid her in her escape. Maria is not strong enough to leave herself. When the doctor tells her that she is not able to call or leave because she is insane, sh...
-Episode 7: M’s younger sister starts to climb down too, but she falls down when she is near the ground. M tries to comfort her younger sister, but she starts to cry. M’s mothe...
She looks, but sees nothing familiar; a mixture of all six, different pieces of each, sewn together in some kind of puzzle. Its bones are thin, its hair is short like a man’s, and its eyes as pretty as a women’s.
place for her to determine that she was in fact a border dweller. This awakening is crucial to her
I knew taking this shortcut was a mistake, yet I didn't think I had enough strength to keep climbing this monumental cliff with the others. The humidity was affecting my vision and the ground now started to spin. The muscles in my legs felt
Cofer starts off her personal narrative with a story about her bus trip to London. There, she faces a drunk man who goes down on his knees and starts to sing “Maria” as he spots her. Then, Cofer continues her story by saying,
She looked out towards the sky, weak rays of sunlight were breaking through the horizon. She knew people were beginning to stir. She also knew that she would have to leave soon. She just wished she didn’t have
...he vicinity for Myra. Abbey eventually found her in a shadowy corner deep into a novel. Myra noticed Abbey.