In The Sound of the Mountain, relationships are presented in a much more realistic way. The flaws of each character are clearly displayed and the couples deal with many difficulties throughout the novel. Shuichi’s affair is a major problem that has to be overcome in order to mend the damaging effects it had on Shuichi and Kikuko’s marriage. Shuichi had to deal with the problem of keeping his affair a secret and also of trying to convince Kinu to have an abortion after he impregnates her. The novel describes the struggles that Kikuko faces as a result of her marriage with Shuichi and how she got an abortion because of his affair. In addition, Shingo’s thoughts about other women is a flaw in his and Yasuko’s marriage. Shingo’s infatuation with …show more content…
There are strong bonds between the godparents and their borrowed children. The godparents love Tristão and Fidelia dearly and the feeling is reciprocated. Despite not being Dona Carmo and Aguiar’s legitimate children, they consider Tristão and Fidelia to be their son and daughter. When both Tristão and Fidelia were home with them, Ayres notes that “the Aguiars’ joy is plain to see. Husband and wife are both hard at work thinking up occasions and ways to pass their time with the two young people” (Machado de Assis 88). They are overjoyed with having their two children with them and care very much for them. Both Tristão and Fidelia have a better relationship with Dona Carmo and Aguiar than with their true families. When Tristão was a child, “Dona Carmo seemed more truly the boy’s mother than his real mother did. He shared himself with both, though slightly preferring the foster mother” (28). In addition, Fidelia’s relationship with her family is absent. Her mother is not alive and her father no longer speaks to her because of her marriage with Noronha. She therefore accepts the Aguiar and Dona Carmo as foster parents. In one of Fidelia’s letters to Carmo, she signs the page “‘Your loving daughter Fidelia’” (68). This shows that she truly loves them and acknowledges them as her adopted …show more content…
Many times, Shingo says that he is ashamed of his children and had hoped that they would have turned out differently. This shows a weakness in his relationship with his family that sometimes occurs in real life. However, Shingo does have a very strong bond with his daughter-in-law, Kikuko. According to the novel, Shingo’s “blood kin were not as he would wish them to be… His daughter-in-law brought relief” (Kawabata 37). This shows that Shingo is ashamed of his own children and disappointed with the way they turned out. Since he is so fond of Kikuko, he fully accepts her into his family and treats her as his own daughter. When Shingo denies Yasuko’s claim that he only cares about Kikuko, Yasuko challenges him by saying “It is true. You never liked Fusako-Shuichi was always your favorite… Even now that he has another woman you can’t say anything to him. And you really show too much affection for Kikuko” (45). This shows that he does not care for his children nearly as much as Kikuko. In addition, Kikuko feels the same way for Shingo. Her love for Shingo is like he is her own father rather than her father-in-law. After Kikuko has her abortion, she decided to go home to her family. When Shingo calls her to see how she is doing, she is pleased to hear from him and tells Shingo “‘Father,’ … ‘I want to see you’” (187). This shows that even though she was pampering herself at her parents
With several astute observations in his memories, Aires gets to deceive and confuse readers. The diary covers two years in the life of a sexagenarian with his proverbial wisdom but placid, deceives and misleads the reader with small observations. The narrator reports people who lived with the narrator, reading quotes and works that read as a diplomat and reflections on past events that occurred in politics. One of the main characters depicted by Aires is Fidelia, a young girl who he was interested. Due to his old age, Ayres never revealed his love to Fidelia, but considered a daughter to the couple Dona Carmo and Aguiar, who cannot have
Doña Guadalupe is a woman of great strength and power, power and strength which she draws from her devout faith and her deep and loving compassion for her family, and power and strength which is passed down to her children. “‘Well, then, come in,’ she said, deciding that she could be handle this innocent-girl-stealing coyote inside. On going into the long tent, Salvador felt like he’d entered the web of a spider, the old woman was eyeing him so deliberately” (360). Doña Guadalupe is a very protective woman, which is extremely speculative when it comes to her children, this is especially true when it comes to boys, because she has not gone this far only for all of her hard work to be ruined by a no good boy. This shows how protective she is, she loves her family, and especially her kids so much that they themselves must pass her test before being able to pass on to her children. “The newborns were moving, squirming, reaching out for life. It was truly a sign from God” (58). Doña Guadalupe is also a very devout and faithful person. She sees God in everything and in everyone and by that fact, what she sees and who she sees is true, and she tries to be a model of clairvoyance for the family. “Doña Guadalupe put the baby’s little feet in a bowel of warm water, and the child clinging to his mother. He never cried, listening to her heartbeat, the same music that he’d heard from inside the womb” (57). Finally, Doña Guadalupe is very passionate which allows for a great model upon which her children follow. This further shows how she is clearly th...
The conflict within the Garcia family took place during the cultural rupture and the point of political. Since their father had rebelled against Trujillo’s oppressive dictatorship, it impacted the Garcia sisters to become rebellious against their parents’ disciplines. The Garcia sisters learned new American habits. They went out to parties, had affairs and even tried drugs.
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).
From there on she continues to talk about her adolescence where she quickly learned about the threat of physical abuse and molestation towards young girls. She did not continue with school pat the age of 9 and in her small job of working in the local market she was confronted with true and absolute poverty on a daily basis. She got pregnant at age 15. At 16 she had her first fist fight with her abusive physically brother. And at 17 met the father of her other future children. While with this man, Rafael Canales, she learned first hand the hardships of poor domestic life. She also learned to assert herself even towards her own husband.
The binary opposition of Antonio’s mother and father are one of the major central conflicts. Antonio resides between the Lunas and the Márez tradition, two families that see no common ground. His passage into maturity is one that forces him to decide between his mother and his father, the moon and the sea. During one of Antonio’s dreams he sees his births. This birth shows him the Lunas and the Márez arguing over his future and the presents they bring represent that. The Lunas bring fruit from their farm, they expect Antonio to respect his mother’s side and honor either the land or the heavens by becoming a farmer or priest. The Márez, who expect him to become a cowboy, smash the Lunas offering and present their own emblematic gifts. This profession is represented by his father’s dream of moving to California when becoming a vaquero is no longer a real option (Novoa, 4). Antonio’s dream ends with Ultima solving the problem, and becoming the bridge between the two worlds, something she frequently becomes for Tony. Antonio feels that he must choose one of the traditional pa...
The binary opposition of Antonio’s mother and father are one of the major central conflicts. Antonio resides between the Lunas and the Márez tradition, two families that see no common ground. His passage into maturity is one that forces him to decide between his mother and his father, the land and the sea. During one of Antonio’s dreams he sees his births. This birth shows him the Lunas and the Márez arguing over his future and the presents they bring represent that. The Lunas bring fruit from their farm, they expect Antonio to respect his mother’s side and honor the land and the heavens. The Márez expect him to become a cowboy, a profession represented by his father’s dream of moving to California (Novoa, 4).
Near the beginning of the novel, Fusako moves back to her parents’ home, bringing her two children with her. She left Aihara because he was not a good spouse and their marriage was very defective. It is suggested in the novel that Aihara may have been abusive. Shingo also reveals information that Aihara started peddling drugs. After discovering that Aihara attempted to commit suicide, Fusako and Aihara officially get divorced. Often times, Fusako gets angry with Shingo for letting her marry someone like Aihara. In one argument, Fusako tells Shingo how her husband was a mess and therefore she is mess. She then states “if you didn’t want it that way, then it would have been a very good idea for you to look into things before you married me off” (Kawabata 134). This shows that Shingo was not successful in setting up a sturdy marriage for his daughter and that causes tension between them, which has a negative effect on the entire family. Fusako’s separation also has a powerful on Shingo because he now has to provide for her again. Yasuko tells Shingo that she notices his “‘scowling face when she comes back and you have to take care of her and those two children’” (46). In addition, Shingo believes that the divorce will affect his family’s reputation. Furthermore, the separation has a negative effect on Fusako’s children. One passage explains that
From beginning to end in the novel there are many events that test the strength and values of the Marez family. When Ultima comes to live out her remaining time with the Marez family, they treat her with the upmost respect calling her “La Grande” and taking her in as if she was family. In the during the story relationships are being tested, Antonio’s father Gabriel has a big dream of moving to California with the family, but refuses to leave until all three of his older sons come back from war (WWII). Soon after Antonio’s brothers return home from war, a short time after two of his brothers’ (Gene and Leon) leave and head to Vegas, crushing Gabriel’s dream. Although, only one brother (Andrew) has decided to stick around, Antonio and he begin to form a relationship that he didn’t have with the others. Since the arrival of Ultima many of the town people question the Marez family for allowing a bruja (witch) to live with them and because of her, many individuals take a stand against them. The Marez family and Narciso show great connection by rallying around Ultima, ...
Catholicism glorifies and represents mothers as the main foundation of the family through the example of the passive and unconditional loving Mary, the mother of Jesus Crist. This idea of the mother as unconditional lover beings has been passed on and reproduced in the Chicana/o community. Gil Cuadros and Reyna Grande through their autobiographical work testify against this predominate idea of the mothers being caring and loving persons. Even though most mothers fall into the norm of a normal mother, normality is subjective, therefore Cuadros and Grande’s work represent the complexities of reality. Grande’s The Distance Between Us and Cuadro’s City of God are autobiographical narratives that incorporate reality as a form of testimonial of existence, an act of healing and resilience. Given that these author’s life experiences can be
In the book “Bless Me Ultima”, by Rudolpho Anaya, there were two families represented, the Marez family and the Lunas family. These two families were very different, but were brought together by the marriage of Gabriel Marez and Maria Lunas. Through the eyes of their son Antonio one may see the comparison of the two. The differentiation of these two families is very clearly noticeable, such as in their personalities, the expression of their religion, and their everyday ways of life.
Catholicism glorifies and portrays mothers as the main foundation of the family through the example of the passive and unconditional loving Mary, the mother of Jesus Crist. This idea of mothers as unconditional lover beings has been passed on and reproduced in the Chicana/o community. Gil Cuadros and Reyna Grande through their autobiographical work testify against this predominate idea of mothers being always caring and loving persons. Even though most mothers fall into the norm of a normal mother, normality is subjective; therefore Cuadros and Grande’s work represent the complexities of reality. Grande’s The Distance Between Us and Cuadro’s City of God are autobiographical narratives that incorporate reality as a form of testimonial of existence,
Family is one of those words that have a significant meaning to various individuals. Family may be viewed one way to an individual and another way to someone else. Family consists of those who have played a particular role in one’s life, whether it is positive or negative. In this paper, I will assess Reymundo’s family both nuclear and extended and speak of how his family has become significant in his life and how they have played a role in his decisions. I will also speak of my personal reactions to the story as well as address ways that as a social worker I could work to impact the gang problems in Orlando.
Within the works of “Fiesta, 1980” it takes us in the lives of a Latin American family. We are described a traditional style Latino family were there is a dominate father figure, a submissive mother, and obedient children more or less. There are two boys the eldest Rafa and the youngest Yunior and their younger sister Madai. During the transgression of the story it is conveyed through the eyes of Yunior. And like any typical family it has its own story to tell.
In “The Fortune Teller,” the author, Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, uses symbolism to prove to one that an affair is not worth a person’s life. He uses the letter to symbolize hate between Villela and Camillo regarding the affair. This very ambiguous letter has terrified Camillo and put an end to his life. The letter enhances the theme of the short story by showing the anger and hate that Villela now had for Camillo. This hate is a focal point in the short story that leads to ending the affair along with Camillo and Rita’s life. Ultimately, the affair caused a large amount of tension between the three. However, the author was successful in grabbing the reader’s attention with the letter as the turning point of the short story.