Sandra Cisneros' Never Marry a Mexican and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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Sandra Cisneros “Never Marry a Mexican” and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are stories that reflect on the cultures in which the characters grew up in. In Never Marry, Clemencia, the narrator, reflects on her past sexual relations as well as her childhood. She speaks of her parents’ marriage and then transitions into her relationship with college professor and his son. In Oscar Wao, Yunior, the narrator, gives a second-hand retelling of Oscar’s experiences in New Jersey growing up as well as in the Dominican Republic. A person’s identity is largely influenced by their culture, this is especially the case in Hispanic cultures. The social constraints that these cultures place on social class, sexuality, and gender norms can be very detrimental to a person’s self-esteem.
A person’s social class influences the environment that they are raised in. When a person grows up in a certain environment they begin to become accustomed to it, thus when they enter into another class they experience quite a shock. “And newspaper set on the table whenever my grandpa sliced watermelons, and how embarrassed she would be when her boyfriend, my father, would come over and there were newspapers all over the kitchen floor and table (Cisneros 153).” Clemencia’s father came from a very well-off family in Mexico, a family where they used cloth napkins as well as had proper place settings; however; Clemencia’s mother came from a family that had cracked plates, no tablecloth, and allowed people to grab silverware as it was needed from the middle of the table. Since Clemencia’s father came from a well-off family, he and Clemencia’s mother were given a lot of guff from his family as he married down by marrying her. Marrying a poor, white w...

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... what their culture tells them. A person’s culture may tell them that only certain things are socially acceptable, thus, when they exit from those norms they are ostracized and condemned. The social class that a person grows up in, their sexuality, and the gender norms that a particular culture creates all influence the way a person views themselves. The cultures of Hispanic countries place a large weight on social acceptance and abiding by social norms. These cultures are not as open to variances in how people act, unlike some other cultures. The United States of America is a country that promotes individualism, while other countries, especially Hispanic ones, tend to emphasize being part of a group. Human beings are naturally social creatures who need to communicate with other people, however, when they are ostracized by the group they begin to keep to themselves.

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