Summary Of Geraldo No Last Names By Sandra Cisneros

Whether it be a family member, friend, or stranger, the loss of a person is hard. Everybody, from all walks of life has –in some way- been affected by loss. Its profound effects on human cycology have been one of the most influential elements in literature. Three novels, Geraldo No Last Name, Typhoid Fever, and Night Calls, explore the effects of loss through the voice of the narrator, as well as the author’s personal experiences.
Geraldo No Last Name, by Sandra Cisneros, is a short story about a young woman named Marin investigating the death of a Mexican man she recently met at a dance. The death of this man, named Geraldo, deeply troubles Marin. As a Mexican woman herself, the troubling news to Marin, is the fact she believes he was discriminated against. In a statement, Marin describes her frustration with the hospital where Geraldo was treated, she illustrates, “The hospital emergency room. Nobody but an intern working alone. And maybe if the surgeon would’ve come… they would know who to notify and where” (Cisneros 560). This statement, coming from the perspective of a Mexican woman, provides a message and theme to the story. Nobody should be treated differently, especially surrounding the death of a person.
Similar to Marin in the story, Cisneros has personal experiences regarding racial issues. In her memoir, A House on Mango Street,

In a statement recalling her inspiration she said, “‘Night Calls’ actually evolved from watching a program on public television about a pair of Japanese cranes” (Fugard 572). To correspond with the television show, she originally set the setting in Night Calls to be in Japan, but she later realized that her best and most comfortable writing came from her own personal experiences. So, she decided to move the setting to her home country in South Africa, and she decided to make the protagonist a young female