One Holy Night by Sandra Cisneros - Essay Example

?One Holy Night by Sandra Cisneros is a rite of passage story, which establishes that the sexuality and desires of a woman are irrelevant and impossible especially when confronted with the deceitful male sex. Sandra Cisneros tackles this idea through her striking first-person narrative and characterization. As a rite of passage story, One Holy Night follows Ixchel’s transition period between puberty to adolescence and to womanhood. The story starts with Ixchel’s recollection of her experiences with Chaq. She met her when she was just a teenager selling cucumbers and mangoes with her aunt. Chaq used to buy her foods and drinks, and through this, he deceived Ixchel into thinking that he is a good man. Chaq made Ixchel believe that he is from the line of Mayan kings, and Ixchel, allured by Chaq’s promises and lies, went on to trust him as she believed that their affair is true and ideal. Although Ixchel knows in the first place Chaq does not appear as special as the way he described himself, she still went with him because she was blinded by her ideals of love and relationships. However, as Chaq only tricked her into having sex, he left her pregnant and alone. Pondering on her situation, Ixchel wondered if how many girls had experienced the same feeling that she felt, how many girls have gone the wrong way because of a man’s lies. At the onset of the story, Ixchel, the main character, narrates her sad sexual and emotional experience with Chaq in a regretful and blaming manner. Additionally, the point of view of the story gives more focus on Ixchel’s feelings toward sexuality and relationship with men. Cisneros’ first-person narrative allows the reader to understand and evaluate Ixchel’s character. Ixchel is a trusting and innocent girl who is very much opposite to Chaq, a deceitful murderer. Additionally, Ixchel is very idealistic about relationships in a way that she fantasizes Chaq as his hero and king. For instance, Ixchel wants an ideal male-female relationship. Ixchel, as a woman, wants trust, gentleness, loyalty, and truth in a relationship. Contrastingly, Chaq views the female sex as a pastime and deceiving them is an opportunity to display his ego and sexual superiority. Chaq, seeing Ixchel’s youthful innocence, uses his deceitful abilities to trap her into a sexual nightmare that would haunt Ixchel for the rest of her life. Additionally, Chaq signifies the archetypal male, who is fed up by the idea that men are the superior sex. Chaq’s character also establishes the male erotic aggression against women, which, as the story shows, results to teenage pregnancy. As the story progresses, the results of Chaq’s erotic aggression bring Ixchel to realize that men are not always what they seem, and what they say about themselves are not always true. In fact, the lies that men tell can trap a woman into a nightmare that she can never bring herself out. This idea consumes Ixchel in a way that her idealistic desires fade into nothing, and she was confronted by the truth that the female sexuality is not a big deal for men at all. Additionally, the male erotic aggression against women brings out cultural and social issues in a way that it causes domestic violence and sexual abuse. When reading that story in the cultural and social context, the reader will be able to see that there are only three stereotypes of a woman: virgin, mother, and whore. This concept makes a woman’s rite of passage difficult as she must be careful should she fall on the third stereotype. In this sense, it can be said that the female sexuality exists only in relation to its male counterpart. The woman, as a virgin, seeks only to copy the attitude of the Holy Mother of Jesus, who is the male counterpart. As a mother, a woman is her husband’s subordinate while as a whore, a woman serves as an instrument to satisfy the sexual urge of men in exchange for money. As Ixchel suffers the bitter outcomes of a failed promise, she also realizes that a woman should be strong enough to face her troubles in life. Lastly, as Ixchel’s experiences bring her to realize that life is not a paradise, it can also be said that the story conveys a message of hope. Women, or human beings in general, must bear their own troubles while at the same time, strive to make their lives better. The story Walimai by Isabel Allende is narrated in first-person point of view by a tribe woman through flashback. The events in the story portray that the tribal life of a native is inferior to the industrialized and progressive life of the “whites.” Additionally, the story tackles sexual abuse against women. Allende effectively portrays these ideas through her first person narrative technique, which focuses on the perspective of Walimai. Allende’s narrative technique also allows the reader to understand tribal life as well as the modern life of the “white” in the view of a native. Aside from the narrative technique, the character of Walimai also portrays the strong aspect of a woman. The story starts with Walimai’s recall of her tribe’s culture, then she goes on narrating other significant events in her life including the coming of the “whites,” her captivity, and her escape in the hands of those “whites.” It is also noticeable that Walimai narrates her story in three phases in relation to the significant events in her life. In the first phase, Walimai narrates her tribal way of life and their culture, which includes their traditions and beliefs including the way they put value on their names. Walimai lived in a peaceful tribe where men hunt for food. Primarily, their life is one with nature as they rely on it for food and shelter. In Walimai’s tribe, speaking a person’s name is one way of establishing an emotional, religious, and physical connection with that certain person. Walimai also tells about their courting traditions and their independent and hassle-free life in the jungle. The second phase of Walimai’s narration centers on the arrival of the “whites” in their village. In this phase, Walimai tells how the arrival of the “whites” in the village disrupts their peaceful tribal life. As Walimai describes, the foreigners cut down the trees that supplied the tribe with food, and the tribe was forced to wander in the forest in search for a more favorable camp site. Walimai also describes the attitudes of the “whites,” and she is specifically surprised by the way the “whites” speak of names so easily. For her, this is a sign of disrespect, which was, in fact, shown when the “white” soldiers sexually abuse another tribe woman without even knowing her name. Aside from this, Walimai also considers the foreigners as a destructive force as they pillaged villages and trees while taking with them both the produce of the forests and village girls. In this context, it can be said that the life of foreigners and natives are actually different as the natives live in harmony with nature while the foreigners destroyed the environment. As the reader will come to differentiate the life of the native and foreigners, readers may also understand the nature of these differences. As Walimai narrates the entire story, the reader will be able to understand fully Walimai’s attitudes and beliefs and her understand concerning the foreigners. As for Walimai, the tribe people are more adept in surviving in the forest, more self-sufficient, and more in tune with nature. Contrastingly, the foreigners do not even know how to use hunting tools, which makes them inefficient in surviving in the forest. Furthermore, Walimai considers the foreigners as a destructive force as they burned down villages and cut down trees as if they can carry the entire forest at their backs. Moreover, the character of Walimai embodies the strong values of a woman. As Allende writes the story in flashback, the story may be read as a story of survival especially amidst the suffering that Walimai had encountered. Furthermore, Walimai signifies a redemptive force especially when she rescued a woman who was sexually abused by the soldiers. While she attempted to save the girl from the hands of the soldiers, Walimai cannot take the thought of letting the girl suffer from her physical and emotional pains anymore that Walimai killed her. Although killing is a cultural taboo, Walimai disregards her beliefs to ease the pains of the girl; thereby,Walimai also puts to risk her village citizenship and moral purity. Thus, Walimai’s act displays both her courage and compassion toward the girl. Walimai was also able to take the girl away from the camp and make a decent burial for the girl. Lastly, through the character of Walimai, Allende was able to provide an honest recount concerning tribal life. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes The Handsomest Drowned Man In the World in a hyperbolic manner, which combines the magical and real aspects of life. This narrative technique shows Marquez’s expertise in language manipulation through the use of symbolism. The magical and real elements influence the realization of the villagers concerning the realities of existence. The story starts with a group of children playing on the shore with a corpse of an over-sized, drowned man, who the villagers baptized as Esteban. The adults, seeing the children playing with the corpse, took the corpse and prepared it for burial. However, with the size of the corpse, adults found it difficult to find a suitable casket and suit. As villagers continue to process a decent burial for Esteban, they also learned lessons concerning life and individual differences. For instance, while they consider the hugeness of Esteban as an advantage at first, they realized how difficult it must be for a tall person to go with people with an average height. For the reason that huge people consume more space, they are often left alone as people cannot accommodate huge persons in their households. In this case, it can be said that the arrival of the Esteban in the village is a driving force for positive change. The villagers learn to see both the benefits and disadvantages of things. As the story centers on the symbols used, the most significant ideas of the story lie in the interpretation of its symbols. In the story, Esteban’s corpse, the magical element, disrupts the peaceful village. The eventful arrival of Esteban signifies a seemingly magical event that makes the villagers realize that there are other kinds of people on earth. As Marquez describes Esteban with exaggeration and mockery, the writer was able to convey that people, whether ordinary or different, have their own blessings and misfortunes in life. Also, the objective narrative of Marquez brings out the true nature of the villagers as they have different perceptions regarding Esteban. Marquez’s hyperbolic writing style also brings out the symbolism in the story, which also enables the reader to reflect on the significance of certain events and people in life. The symbolic elements of the story are the village, sea, and Esteban, which also create the metaphorical meaning of the story. For instance, the village signifies the modern world that seeks for something to believe in, even when it seems unreal in the eyes of other people. The life in the village is monotonous as it is small with only an approximate of twenty households; it is located in a barren area with no physical aesthetics, even flower gardens. Also, mothers worry about their children always as the village is prone to strong winds, which may carry off the children. The sea signifies the distant and looming realm of the unknown. As the village is located in the coasts, the village fall victim to the rages sea with typhoons and sea accidents frequently. As the sea poses a threat to the normal village life, the villagers are not expecting to get something good from the sea, only disasters that may ruin their life. The arrival of Esteban signifies that the sea, the unknown, can bring out good things. Also, Esteban signifies beauty, which carries a constructive transformational effect. When Esteban arrives in the village, the villagers are confronted by an extraordinary and magical creature, which also encourages them to improve their life. The strange and magical features of Esteban make people realize that there is still beauty in life, and it is worthy of aspiration. The last part of the story tells the burial of Esteban; the villagers choose two of their own kin to become Esteban’s foster parents. In this way, they would be able to make Esteban part of their history. Esteban’s burial also develops the people’s love for beauty as they proposed to gather flowers from the neighboring villages just to decorate Esteban’s burial ground. After the burial, the villagers learned to build larger and stronger houses, plant flowers, as well as appreciate the destructive and constructive force of the sea. Lastly, the story is not an entirely magical tale; rather, it is a metaphorical story signifying realistic transformations in the physical and ideological sense. Willa Cather Paul’s Case establishes that emotional confinement is a torture that can only be remedied with freedom of expression and acceptance in the society. This idea is expressed in the character of Paul as he struggles against the standards of the society that he grows up in to find a place to belong and enjoy his life. In this context, the story can also be read as a rite of passage story following the life of a teenager in his quest to find his identity and freedom to express such identity. Primarily, Paul’s Case follows the story of Paul. The story attempts to portray the experiences of an emotionally confined youth as well as his actions in the process of confronting his troubles. In addition, the story shows that people have their own limitations and opportunities that make them unique. Furthermore, chronological succession of the events in the story illustrates the causes and consequences of the follies of youth as well as the mistakes of adults in relation to the American Dream. The reader can derive this idea through a close analysis of the relevant characters such as Paul, his father, and teachers. The story starts with Paul called before the Pittsburgh High School faculty because of his misdemeanors in school. Paul is the type of student who enjoys the beautiful and fancy, but does not care about his studies. He does not care to pass his projects more so in listening to his teacher’s discussions. Aside from this, he does not seem to take life seriously to the point that he becomes comical and rude in school. Although he lived in the quiet and respectable neighborhood in Pittsburgh with his father, Paul wants to get out from that place and go to New York where he expects to find the things that he loves, the carefree and glamorous life like the ones he saw in the theater. Additionally, Paul is sick of the conventional lifestyle of his community, he wants to have an independent life because he believes that it is the only way to life and enjoy life fully. Although Paul may be considered as irresponsible and careless, he shows a particular interest in arts, music, and theater. Music, arts, and theater inspire him and motivate him to aspire for beauty. In fact, Paul becomes extremely happy when watching theatrical and musical performances in their town; he even has a part-time work in the local theater. Contrastingly, Paul’s father, who works in the transportation business, wants him to work hard in his studies and have a job in the business world. Paul’s father wants money as it could make their livelihood better. Thus, he encouraged Paul to do good in school to ensure that he would become what he needs to become, a successful businessperson. Based on their attitudes and goals in life, Paul and his father have different views on the American dream. For Paul, the American Dream is a dream of freedom and acceptance, which frees him from alienation. Contrastingly, the American dream for Paul’s father is a dream of financial stability. Paul’s father wants Paul to succeed in business and attain wealth as he knows that money matters. The different attitudes of Paul and his father influence their decisions and bring out the adverse consequences of their follies. For instance, the decision of Paul’s father to debar Paul from the theater and concern hall drives Paul to steal money from Denny & Carson, the company he worked for. As his father denies him the chance to participate in activities that he enjoys most, Paul ran with the money and boarded a train for New York where he believed he will enjoy the life that he direly wants to live. Paul’s decision of running away is a sign of escape as he wants to escape from the monotonous and conventional ways of his father and neighborhood. Although Paul had enjoyed the life that he wants to have even for a brief period, his decision of running away is the greatest mistake of his life as it leads to his death. Thus, in Paul’s case, it is never beneficial to make a hasty decision. Lastly, Paul’s Case is a story of a young boy’s attempt to pursue his dreams in life and a place to belong. Additionally, this story also shows that hasty decisions can lead to adverse outcomes. While achieving one’s dreams is a difficult task, there are also logical and safe ways to achieve those dreams without compromising one’s life and values in life. Philip Roth’s The Conversion of the Jews establishes that the power vested on religious authorities can influence religious traditions more than the established belief of the religion itself. The contrasting characters of Ozzie and Rabbi Binder create the idea that religious leaders are hypocritical sometimes as their teachings deviate from the true meaning and nature of faith and religion. This story also tackles religious freedom as a way of strengthening ones belief. Roth’s third-person narrative allows readers to have a full grasp of the characters of Ozzie and Rabbi Binder as well as the other characters. Relatively, readers can understand the attitudes of the characters through Roth’s objective descriptions. Aside from this, Roth writes the story with the use of dialogues, which allows readers to understand the feelings and attitudes of the characters based on the way they speak and converse with each other. Instead of describing the characters, Roth illustrates the characters in the story through the way they speak. At the beginning of the story, Roth introduces Ozzie as a skeptical teenager who opposes the teachings and beliefs of their pastor constantly, Rabbi Binder. In the first paragraphs, for instance, Ozzie is portrayed as a doubtful boy who is constantly questioning the rationale of existing Jewish traditions. He asks the weirdest questions and, oftentimes, these have the weirdest answers. As Ozzie cannot directly contradict Rabbi Binder in class, he talked about his religious contradictions in their house with his mother, or with his friends. Ozzie character signifies a critical believer who questions religious teachings not because these are false, but because of the impractical ways on which these teachings are practiced. As a skeptical believer, Ozzie only wants to understand the reasons behind the religious precepts practiced by their religion; he only wants to know whether their pastor really knows what Judaism, as a religion, is about. On the other hand, Rabbi Binder, Ozzie’s religious leader practices religion merely as an extension of the Jewish cultural tradition. As a religious leader, Rabbi Binder aims to maintain the traditions of Judaism as it is an essential element in the collective or individual identity of the Jews. For instance, Rabbi Binder prioritizes mastery of text rather than mastery of meaning when he comments on Ozzie’s slow reading of Hebrew texts. Aside from this, Rabbi Binder’s religious authority allows him to influence people’s views on religious matters, which is, for Ozzie, a form of oppression of a person’s religious freedom. As the teachings of Rabbi Binder center on the traditions, the people sometimes get confused when these traditions have faults, which may lead them to confusion, or, in Ozzie’s part, disbelief. As for Ozzie, he was confused on the identity of Jesus and Mary when he expresses his disbelief on the immaculate conception of Jesus. Although Ozzie’s friends and his mother continue to believe all that Rabbi Binder taught, Ozzie is skeptical as he does not want to follow blindly a faith or religion that he does not understand fully. In this context, it can be said that Ozzie’s character signifies a youth’s doubt on religious matters, which also seems to convey that religious leaders should encourage religious freedom among its people to give way to open-minded discussion. Conclusively, although the characters and events in the story are humorous, the subject of the story, which is religion, is a topic that must not be taken half-heartily. As a thirteen year old boy, Ozzie begins to question the truth of the Jewish faith as he sees their religious traditions purely for the continuance of such traditions, rather than truly believing in the concept and context of what they profess. Although Ozzie’s is doubtful, the last parts of the story prove that he is the exact opposite. He questions the Jewish faith not because he deemed it faulty, but because he wants to understand the meaning of their religious traditions thoroughly. In fact, he wants the Jews to understand the contextual meaning of their religious beliefs including the thought that Jesus Christ is the son of God and was conceived by Mary without intercourse. Ozzie’s religious curiosity signifies a true believer’s quest for religious freedom in finding the true nature and meaning of religious beliefs and traditions. In Flannery O’Connor’s Revelation, the attitudes, visions, and realizations of the main character, Ruby Turpin, create the idea that people are all the same in the eyes of God regardless of the person’s attitude toward life and other people, which includes their race, and economic status. In this context, the story may also be read as a parable as it suggests morals on existence including faith, religion, and God. Additionally, this story implies that salvation comes only out of the grace of God, not on the individual work of human beings. The story starts with Mrs. Turpin entering the doctor’s clinic with her husband. With her huge physique, Mrs. Turpin had the attention of the people, and as she started a conversation with another woman waiting in the clinic, she gained more attention because of her seemingly admirable attitude and outlook in life. Their conversation is mainly about the importance of religion and proper disposition in the life of human beings. Mrs. Turpin also emphasizes her gratitude for all the things that she had in life. However, as no one person can please all people, Mrs. Turpin did not at all gain the appreciation of everyone in the doctor’s clinic especially Mary Grace. Mary Grace is the daughter of the woman with whom Mrs. Turpin is conversing with, and as Mary Grace sensed that Mrs. Turpin is exposing her mother’s ignorance, Mary Grace becomes angry at Mrs. Turpin. Mary Grace silently dislikes Mrs. Turpin as she can always refute the latter’s arguments. Mary Grace also sensed that Mrs. Turpin has an air of superiority as she deemed that she always has the best of everything. By the time Mary Grace cannot take Mrs. Turpin’s attitude anymore, she hurled her book at Mrs. Turpin and cursed her. Mary Grace called Mrs. Turpin an “old wart hog.” As Mrs. Turpin finds Mary Grace’s statement very insulting and agitating, she reflected on her previous actions and realized that she was not what she thought she really is. Considering the events in the story, it can be said that the story centers on the attitudes, visions, and realization of Mrs. Turpin as she encountered different kinds of people in the doctor’s waiting area. Mrs. Turpin is a stout woman admired because of her sweetness and positive disposition. At first, Mrs. Turpin appears to be a very religious and virtuous woman who strives to be a good person and is always grateful for everything that God has given to her. However, despite her positive attitude, she also has a habit of judging other people by their looks, and she even makes her own classification of people. She ranks people according to their economic status with people with bigger houses, more lands, and more money on top while the colored people occupy that last ladder of the hierarchy. Mrs. Turpin also has the habit of predicting the will of God and concluding that she always has a little of everything for which she would always be grateful for. In this context, it can be said that Mrs. Turpin is full of herself that she always sees herself as the better person as compared to the “niggers, ugly, and white-trash.” However, Mrs. Turpin’s realization regarding the equality of all people came after she was hit with a book by Mary Grace and was called an “old wart hog,” the very description that she loathes to hear. With this description, Mrs. Turpin realized that not all people see her the way she saw herself, and people are not what exactly she thought what they are. There are people who appear admirable on the outside but are actually doing evil deeds while there are also people who look evil but are actually doing admirable deeds. At the last part of the story, Mrs. Turpin saw a vision of heaven with all kinds of people both good and bad alike, coming towards it. In her vision, she saw all kinds of people entering the gates of heaven including those people who she refers to as less admirable, which are the niggers and the white trash. Her vision makes her realize that she is no different from the niggers and the white-trash as it is not the deeds of a person that brings her/him to heaven; rather, it is by God’s grace that people attain salvation in heaven. Thus, this story suggests the salvation of human beings lies in the hands of God. Relatively, the story reveals that the judgment of right and wrong is in the hands of God, not in the hands of human beings. James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues illustrates African-American experiences in two aspects. The two main characters in the story, Sonny and his brother, represent the two divergent types of Afro-American personality; one is the urban middle-class professional while the other is the youth who fall victims to drugs and unemployment. The story is narrated in flashback, which starts with the narrator hearing and reading the news about his brother, who was brought to jail due to drug addiction. As the narrator remembers Sonny’s childhood, he also recalled their happy moments that are marked with innocence and happiness. Considering the tendencies of the youth, the narrator fears that one of his students would become like Sonny, who took refuge in illegal drugs to escape from the bitter realities of the world. The narrator also recollects the experiences he and Sonny had with their parents, and how his father and Sonny resemble each other. The series of events narrated in the story illustrates how Sonny drifted away from their family, which includes his participation in the jazz band and his differences with his bother. Primarily, the story centers on the differences of the narrator and Sonny, which ends with the two of them understanding each other. For instance, the narrator represents the emerging Afro-American professional while Sonny represents the creative Afro-American youth. While the Afro-American urban professional struggle to adapt to the mainstream society, the other aims to acquire a creative medium of expression, which is music. As the story centers on the individual problems of the two characters, the reader will also be able to understand the different manners in which the brothers deal with their own problems. Thus, this story also tackles suffering and recovery in relation to Afro-American experience especially in the Harlem ghetto. Baldwin’s flashback style of narrative gives an impression that Sonny’s brother, who is the narrator, handled his problems better as he was able to acquire a teaching job. Additionally, the narrator’s concern is more on his responsibilities toward the people around him. For instance, as an older brother, the narrator’s concern is primarily related to the welfare of Sonny. As a teacher, the narrator’s also concerns himself with the welfare of his students as he also fears that they would become like his brother. As a family man, Sonny’s brother is also concerned with his own family including his mother and father. Contrastingly, Sonny, the younger brother, was lost in the dark, little world of the Harlem ghetto as he struggles to find somewhere to belong and somebody to talk to. As a result, Sonny turned to drugs to solve his problems, which worsens his problems as he was convicted. As Sonny confronts these problems, he struggles toward self-expression, identity, and acceptance in the society. Moreover, misunderstanding between the brothers emerges, which also signifies the misunderstanding of the two Afro-American personalities. Frequently, their conversations are interrupted by a silence that talks, the kind of silence which contains haunting words of misunderstood meanings. As the narrator gets accustomed to the teaching and of talking things through, he does not understand that Sonny prefers the words of his piano, the creative noise of his Afro-American soul. Furthermore, Sonny’s piano symbolizes his problems. In the last part of the story, the image of Sonny struggling to play his piano harmoniously signifies his struggles in dealing with his problems: “the piano stammered, started one way, got scared, stopped; started another way, panicked, marked time, started again; then seemed to have found a direction, panicked got stuck.” This image signifies Sonny’s numerous attempts to fix his life as well his repeated struggle in finding his identity. Thus, in the context of the Afro-American struggle against marginalization, it can be said that a mutually comprehensible manner of expression is important as it is the key to understanding each other. Lastly, the last paragraphs of the story tell of the deeply-rooted suffering in the Harlem ghetto. As Creole reminds the audience that the music they are playing are the blues, he implies that they are playing the suffering of the ghetto boys in creative medium for which they will try to sustain even at the expense of their ruin and death. Read More