My thoughts on Cisneros' vibrant writing style

Wow! Cisneros uses so many different writing techniques throughout her work...it’s been fun to study them! I chose to write about a few stories where the different stylistic techniques stood out to me.

Woman Hollering Creek

One thing that I found interesting that was brought up in my discussion group in class is the author’s use of short, choppy and often fragmented sentences. We have a great example of this on pg 53, “...just a loan, for the baby’s medical expenses. Well then if he’d rather she didn’t. All right, she won’t. Please don’t anymore. Please don’t....But please, at least for the doctor visit. She won’t ask for anything else. She has to. Why is she so anxious? Because.” By using these abrupt and unfinished sentences, Cisneros is able to poignantly illustrate the scattered feelings of anxiety, and apprehension, experienced by the female protagonist, Cleófilas.
Another aspect of style which was brought up in class is the author’s use of one sided conversations; those of which portray the standpoints of the female characters. It seems like Cisneros is providing a sharp contrast here with giving voice only to the women, in attempts to shed light on a past where the right to have a voice, forcibly belonged only to men. Cisneros gives this right to the women in her stories and does not allow, what I feel she implicitly communicates as, the ‘overpowering’ voice of a man to be heard.

Eyes of Zapata

I was a little bit confused with the timeline of this story because it is totally out of order. However I believe it starts in the present, then travels to the past, and comes back to the present. This transition between the present and past happens repeatedly, and adds even more colour to the already vibrant style of Cisneros’ work. These flashbacks help to illustrate the main character’s past dreams versus the reality of her present life, which like so many of the other characters’ lives in Cisneros’ stories, is filled with hardships. The last line of this story emphasizes the importance of these transitions through time, “Let me look at you. Before you open those eyes of yours. The days to come, the days gone by. Before we go back to what we’ll always be.” This quote sums up the dreaded reality of the protagonist’s life, which for the reader, is enhanced by the author’s mixture of flashbacks and present time.

There Was a Man, There Was a Woman

In this short narration, Cisneros uses a lot of repetition. She basically tells the exact same story twice, one being the story of a man, and the other being that of a woman. It seems like this is one of the only times the author portrays both male and female as equal, giving both a voice. Both sexes are struggling through life, looking for answers at the bottom of a bottle. I think that this use of repetition provides a way to show that men and women are equal and both struggle with the same issues. The fact that the man and woman in this story never meet due to having opposite pay days, seems to be a reflection of how the women and men in Cisneros’ work never seem to connect and therefore can never understand each other. Both struggle with similar issues but are so consumed with their own problems that they miss the opportunity to work together and unite through their common hardships.

There are so many more aspects to Cisneros’ writing style that I would like to comment on...so little time...:)

Thought Provoking...

Well the first time I read Woman Hollering Creek I had a hard time piecing these stories together...probably because, as critic Ilan Stavans claims, they are more like “verbal photographs” (a little tidbit from our Wikipedia article!) therefore, they often lack either a beginning, middle or end...or sometimes even all three. After doing some researching for our article, I’ve gained a huge appreciation for why Cisneros writes the way she does, and in reading this book a second time with knowing what to expect, I have enjoyed it so much more. Instead of trying to figure out how one story is connected to the next, I was able to step back and see more of the overall picture. I really like how she categorizes her writings into the three sections: childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and that within these sections one can learn through Cisneros’ down-to-earth writing style about what life is truly like for chicanas, living on either side of the Mexican border.

My favourite of the three sections would have to be “There Was a Man, There Was a Woman”, and I particularly was drawn in by the title story “Woman Hollering Creek”. I had the same reaction while reading this narrative as I did when I read “Y no se lo tragó la tierra”; I wanted to reach out and help both books’ protagonists escape from the hard realities of life that they faced. Cleófilas, our female protagonist is off to marry the man she thought she had waited all her life for. However, she is unaware of the downward turn her life is about to take when her new husband becomes abusive, and unfaithful. She ends up wishing she could return home despite the “chores that never ended, [her] six good for nothing brothers and one old man’s complaints” ...this is the same “old man” who, though foreseeing her future filled with hardship, sent her off with the words “I am your father I will never abandon you”. These words of her father just melted my heart, and made me want to jump right into the story to tell Cleófilas she was making a grave mistake...and that she should at least stay where she is loved. I hated reading how poorly she was treated in her marriage and I felt that it would better to be single and (in her case) at home where she is accepted and loved rather than to be married to someone who is unloving and abusive...Anyways, I appreciated this narrative a lot because it is so relative to today...the choices you make, especially important ones such as marriage, can have such a drastic effect on your future...

Reading this book for the second time has been great...and I’m excited to revisit the second half this next week.

My recap thus far...

Overall I would say that I have enjoyed the material we’ve covered in this class. It is the first time that I’ve studied Chicano literature and so far I have found it to be quite intriguing. The books we have read as well as the film we watched, together offer four different perspectives on past and present day issues including, but certainly not limited to, race, gender, society and politics.

Our first reading entitled: Who Would Have Thought It? by Maria Ruiz de Burton, disguises itself as a book about family affairs, passion, romance etc. However, underneath the surface we find that it reveals the many different societal and political hierarchies, while at the same time, highlighting a series of gendered relationships between the government as well as particular government officials and those without power. This work turns out to be a sort of “comedy of manners” on a political stage. I really enjoyed this book...it captured my attention..loved everything accept the ending!

Secondly we read a series of short stories by José Martí, including: El Puente De Brooklyn, Coney Island, Fiestas de la Estatua de la Libertad, El Terremoto de Charleston, and Nueva York Bajo La Nieve. The works of this author who fought for the independence of Cuba acted as a bridge between the Anglo-Saxon and Latin-American worlds. (I plan to reread these stories though...because I am still somewhat lost as to their content...!)

Finally, it was: Y no se lo tragó la tierra written by Tomás Rivera, that concluded our readings. This story was about the hardships faced by los campesinos in the 1950’s. Rivera is able to weave the stories of particular campesinos into that of the main character and his struggle to overcome the oppression of religion as well as racial and classist discrimination. This book delivered such a strong message of a need for justice and redemption in this corrupt world of ours...I thought it was very well-written.

Now for the film: Salt of the Earth written by Michael Wilson. (Unfortunately I was only able to see the second half of it.) This video has to do with a lower class community of Mexican American and Anglo miners and their families, all of which who fight for better working conditions. In this film, class transcends gender and racial differences, as this mixed community is able to unify themselves to achieve their common goal.

Well that’s all for now...til next time...!

The Christian Religion in "Y no se lo tragó la tierra"

Wow, I’m still reeling with all kinds of thoughts and emotions after finishing this book. (sorry I’m posting this so late again!!) Rivera’s portrayal of the protagonists’ life is so painfully raw, and his method of narration, through the eyes of the child, is powerful. The reader is able to see the reality, stripped bare of adult-like pretences and reservations, of the boys’ struggle with religion, poverty, racism, and lack of acceptance and self worth; all of which are under the umbrella of his (slowly decreasing) child-like naivety.

A lot of the everyday battles faced by the protagonist are reflected in today’s society. For example his own frustration and anger in asking why, if God existed, he would let bad things happen to good people. He feels that God simply does not care, and maybe even does not exist. There is a sense of hopelessness here; a sense of refusal to accept his mother’s belief that God does exist and that he allows things to happen for reasons which may not be understood but on the other hand, that he has a special plan in the afterlife for impoverished people such as themselves.

At the end of the novel, we read that the boy comes to grips with his own reality...one that does not include God. He decides that he is able to figure everything out on his own and that he doesn’t need to hide in the naivety of his “darkness” anymore. With the boy having grown up with an understanding of the Christian religion that was very oppressive, it is understandable that he desires to be free from it. This, however, is frustrating because even though throughout this book there are people who have changed and manipulated the message of hope and grace that Christianity is said to offer, one can suggest that the foundation of this religion reveals a pure faith that there is a God who loves and saves and who does not condemn those that belong to him. The portrayal of Christianity in this book, which is so jaded, twists grace into condemnation which in turn, understandably, forces the boy to push away from his childhood beliefs as well as the hope that has been offered to him.

And the earth did NOT devour him

I am posting my blog a bit late, and being honest I haven’t had a chance to finish the Rivera’s book yet, but I look forward to it!

I find Rivera’s writing style easier to follow than that of Martí’s, and so I’ve enjoyed reading “Y no se lo tragó la tierra”. Rivera writes in such a way that enables the reader to feel like they are part of the story; like an invisible character that is able to see all that is going on, while also being able to understand the hearts of the characters. This particular style of writing captures the reader’s attention but at the same time it can create an avenue for frustration; that which I am about to explain. In some ways I wish I could have an actual role in this story...one that could be a constant echo of support and encouragement to this poor boy who works so hard to be accepted. I get so upset that the efforts made by the protagonist to achieve success, and gain acceptance are so often thwarted, unappreciated and crushed. I think it bothers me so much because the boys’ reality is not just an example of life in the past, but one that so many kids of today’s society struggle with.

So as I read, I wonder, will the protagonist ever be able to come to grips with the world around him and be able to rise above it and succeed in his efforts to achieve acceptance as well as some of his other life goals? I hope so, and my reason for this hope is in the title which states that “ and the earth did NOT devour him”...