Life is a learning lesson that we all have to experience. In the story "Black Hair" by Gary Soto, the main character learns more than he bargained for. The theme of the story is not completely clear until a deeper look is given. It is easy to understand the story, but the words and symbols play a major role in making this short story have a deep meaning. There are many different ways that one can perceive this story's theme, but it all depends on how one can relate with it. The central theme is how society classifies people into categories in relation to their work. One sub-theme that is apparent, but not obvious, is that one cannot change who they are, and should accept themselves. Also, Soto touches on how the past reflects the future. …show more content…
"Home from college she is immediately taken with me, in spite of my work-darkened face, and invites me into the family car for a milkshake across town...Barbara did come home for a week, but was bitter toward her parents for taking in borders,"(94). He recognizes that he does not want to be like her and her life and family is not perfect like he thought.
While he is hitch-hiking back to his rented room, a woman who understands his hardships stops and gives him money.
It must have hurt her to see me day after day walking in the heat and looking very much like a dirty Mexican to the many minds that didn't know what it meant to work at hard labor. That woman knew. Her eyes met mine as she opened the car door, and there was tenderness that was surprisingly true--one for which you wait for years but when it comes it doesn't help. Nothing changes. You continue on in rags, with the sun still above you (93).
This woman accepts her own life and the hard labor that she has done, and understands the boy's "blackness" or hardship. She also knows the troubles of being Mexican, and knows the felling of being thought of as a "dirty Mexican." She gives him money not out of pity, but out of understanding. She also had the tenderness that he always longs for.
In the bath, he tries to rub the dirt off of him by scrubbing. He rubs until he turns pink. "I soaped a washcloth and scrubbed my arms
The author shows similarities between the narrator and his more skeptical colleague in an attempt to highlight the narrator’s thoughts. His thoughts show that his caustic colleague is very critical in describing the immigrant mother as a “bugger” and the daughter as a “pimply-faced bitch”. (pg. 55) The story then ends with a sense of hope for the young girl as she returns to school.
Living in Mexico throughout her teen years was very rough. Unlike other teenagers where their parents constantly provide for their children, Marisela’s life was a lot different than the usual parent- child relationship. She lived with her Abuela ( Grandma) Lupe, along with her 3 brothers and sister. She constantly had to take care of her brothers and sister at such a young age, that she became the mother-like figure of the
There has been a notable amount of conversation on the internet on the rebirth of the natural hair movement. Cherise Luter (2014) states that despite afros and the natural hair movement not being a new concept (i.e. the Black Power Movement), it has gone under what she calls a “refreshing change”. Furthermore, what used to be “I’m black and I’m proud”, has been replaced with “I’m me and I’m proud” (Luter 2016). So, what is the natural hair movement? It is defined as a movement where black women decide to not conform to the social norms of chemically altering their hair and wearing it in its natural, kinky, or curled state (Joignot 2015). The movement could also be considered as an outlet for black women to display their racial and cultural pride or to articulate their “political position (Brown 2014:297). However, simply the terminology “movement” is something that should be shocking to many. There is a great amount of historical context behind the continuous influence Eurocentric beauty ideals have had on black women for centuries. According to Nadia Brown (2014), Black natural hair throughout history has proven to be recognized as “either unintended or intended personal and political statements” (298). the beauty standard in Western society which praises European hair textures, has influenced many black women to be critical of other black women who choose to chemically straighten their hair, accusing them of being subservient to the dominant and pervasive racist
Hernandez does what she can to keep her own head above water by getting a job at a local McDonalds and keeping her grades up in school. Though guilty of her own successes Hernandez did what she had to do, to survive and create her own future.
Life for a child as an illegal immigrant was especially hard. The labor was hard work for a nine year old. He had never seen his hand so black and dirty before in his life, and the pay was very little. Immigration police came, but luckily Carlitos escaped with another worker named Enrique. The two struggled to find employment just to pay for bus fares. After meeting his father for the first time, he found out his father would not contribute torwards Carlitos's mission of reuniting with his mother. Carlitos fleeted to the city his mom was located at with Enrique. On the journey to every payphone in Los Angelos, Carlitos was spotted by the police. But because Enrique distracted the police and got caught, Carlitos got away. He wounded up in place that described everything his mother once shared with him, the exact location his mother would go to call Carlitos every Sunday. Carlitos and Rosario's eyes finally met. They cautiously wait quietly on opposite sides of the street and remain silent. They have finally
Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair, investigates the notion of what good hair is. Dominant society views good hair as straight or essentially caucasian hair. This is not only problematic to the self-esteem and confidence of black women, but it can also cause black women to appropriate Asian culture. Black women unfortunately take advantage of Asian culture in search of what society believes is good hair. Many black women wear weaves in order to align to what society believes is good hair. However, when they buy this hair, they do not realize what Asians go through. Likewise, Asians who give up their hair do not know where or who this hair will be going to. Thus, this desire for good hair further perpetuates the lack of understanding that black
Poor Mexican American. Female child. We all look alike: dirty feet, brown skin, downcast eyes. You have seen us if you have driven through South Texas on the way to Mexico. We are there – walking barefoot by the side of the road. During harvest time there are fewer of us – we are with our families in the fields. (prologue)
Gary Soto attempts to make it understandable, in his short story “Like Mexicans,” that a person’s race is not what defines them completely. Soto married Carolyn, a Japanese woman, after having claimed that he would only marry a woman of Mexican descent. Soto’s best friend Scott highly disagreed with Soto’s decision in being with Carolyn. He felt Carolyn was too good for Soto, and therefore this false assumption brought Soto down and distorted his thoughts on race and economic status. The essay by Gary Soto was well-written because it can be highly relatable to one’s life, especially to someone who is of Hispanic descent.
The poem, “Black Hair,” by Gary Soto describes a childhood of a boy looking back on how he compared himself to his favorite baseball player’s. The speaker gives many rich images stating how the boy compares himself to the baseball players. The three vivid images that prodded out at me were, “I came here because I was Mexican” this is him comparing himself to a dark skin baseball player, “At eight I was brilliant with my body”, and “Growing sweaty in the presence of white shirts”.
A deeper examination of Cisneros’ famous short story, “Woman Hollering Creek” will highlight the liberation of those barriers. In this particular short story Cisneros speaks about the main character, Cleofilas, and her struggle with her abusive husband, Juan Pedro. Cleofilas had to live in a society where the women were simply there to assist their husbands, and God forbid she second guessed him. Living and struggling with the everyday battle of stereotypes, she decided to leave her husband at the end of this short story. This all developed the strong independent female role Cleofilas took on by the end of the story. The main character was forced to believe by her family and her husband that she wasn’t worth anything without a man; this made her doubtful of her abilities and her human capital. In the interview by Martha Satz, Cisneros says, “I think many of my stories come from dealing with straddling two cultures, and certainly it's something I'm going to deal with in future stories” (Cisneros 30). Here, Cisneros agrees that her stories have to do with the endless topic about coming from two cultures and the stereotypes it brings along. From firsthand accounts the Mexican American culture is embraced by “machismo”, or that male superiority. “Woman Hollering Creek”
In the end Barbara ended up breaking all of the rules she had set for herself but she feels that she did a good job at her project. She was alarmed by the way that some of her co-workers lived and felt that she learned a lot from her experiences.
Sandra Cisneros’ short story, “Never Marry a Mexican”, indirectly underlines her perspective, her interpretation, judgement, and critical evaluation of her subject, the work and its title. This perspective is evident in her use of literary devices, diction, and language structure in her narrative. The purpose of the use of these elements in the way that she does is ultimately linked to understanding her viewpoint on the subject. The author’s perspective is embedded in the meaning of the story and its theme. Her interpretations are valid, and justified in detail throughout the story to add color and vibrancy to her characters. Her judgment is lightly touched upon but only clearly and directly given at the end of the story, to allow the
Over the course of the last few years the volume of information on how to take care of black hair has grown exponentially. Social media has provided us with easy access to this information and in response black hair has become the rave. Having African American hair is an exciting journey. It’s a marathon and not a sprint so no matter how long you’ve had your black hair in its natural state you will continue to learn and mature in the ways you take care of it. Here are the top 5 things you absolutely need to know about caring for black hair.
At some point in a woman's life, she is, if like most women, unhappy with her hair. A woman with straight hair wishes for curly ringlets. A woman with curly hair wants stick-straight locks. Thick and coarse desires to be fine and thinner. Fine and thin begs for thick hair.
As people look around the different cities of our fair country, one might notice that many people nowadays are coloring their hair to cover grey or just for the fun of it. One difference among the younger generation and the older generation is the colors that are chosen for their hair. The younger generation of this day and age seem to prefer wild colors such as Infra Red, Mystic Heather, Deadly Nightshade, Tiger Lily, etc, as self-expression compared to the older generation choosing natural shades to cover the signs of aging. This can be seen in the rising number of young people that are seen around with these types of wild colors. Not all young people choose the wild colors over natural shades because some choose the