The Innocence Of Lust In Rolando Perez's 'Office At Night'

The American dream of success can be both a sweet satisfaction and a dreadful nightmare. Richard Rodriguez and his siblings grow up and become successful just as their mother suspected. On christmas, Richard and his siblings spoil their mother just as she wanted. However not all is well as her children and her are not close as they were before. In the following passage by Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez uses language and details about his siblings, parents, and himself to show the distance created by material success.

- Seduction through language and sexual tension in Pacino’s version – low neckline in costume,

Out of the three poems, the first two hardly had but one or two symbols throughout. They were so short, that they hardly had enough time to get but a small message across to the reader, or atleast that 's how I saw it. However, Alberto Rios 's "Mi Abuelo" had many images which made my brain tingle with excitement for writing this paper. Besides the fact that it had the most imagery, it also was the most interesting and best imagery in my opinion.

In defining one’s identity, many different factors are considered; such as one’s nationality, characteristic, personality, ability, experience, religion, and etc. Especially for those people who live in America, so called country of immigration, has much more complicated identities than those Asian country people where mixed people are rarely noticed. Thinking about the concept of identity, some people easily categorized themselves as simple factors and terms which could describe their surface; white, black, Asian, European, pretty, ugly, nice, mean and so on and so forth. And that is the most point where majority people stopped to list their identities from exploring more in complicated range. However, there are many people who dig more than common people; one great example would be Denise Chavez, who is the author of the novel called Loving Pedro Infante, who kept asking herself about her identity to approach more accurate and clear ideas. In her work, reader could see the confusion of Tere, the main character of the novel, went through her life as Latin-American female in dealing with finding one’s true identity and how she accept her as who she really is. Denise Chavez, who is obviously Latin-American lady, mirror her own life experience through the character she created and introduce to readers about tough life she lived in America as Mejicana. The main character of this novel have a clear understanding and strong idea about herself throughout the novel, even if

Over the course of time the Nilch’i Dine’e had been committing adultery with creatures of other races, thus them being part like the Holy People, yet different because of the genetics of the other creatures. God also places a strong emphasis on the marriage between man and woman. It states in Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also teaches against adultery and divorce, recorded in Matthew 5:27-32, Luke 10:1-12. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul emphasizes how marriage should be arranged between man and woman.

In “The Secret Lion,” Alberto Alvaro Rios establishes the theme as loss of innocence in a young boy. The narrator brings to life a boy who must leave behind his youthful perceptions about girls, the arroyo, and his green haven. All preconceptions are shattered, and each glimpse of bliss is taken away. Through this the boy gains perspective, and begins to see the world with a new awareness. Rios ingrains the loss of innocence theme through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy who exhibits maturity, autonomy, and disillusionment.

Tom slammed the door behind him, and walked to his vehicle, which had been parked askew in the driveway in his earlier haste to get inside to Lila. It was only when he entered, and the sound of the ignition broke the silence, and the headlights, the darkness, that he paused to think of what had occurred. Regardless of the surprise gift that had arrived at his office, and the note that had accompanied it, Tom instinctively knew that the acts he’d perpetrated inside weren’t what Lila had wanted. How could any women wish to be struck about the face, called a slut and a whore, and be humiliated and degraded by the man she loved. Possibly in a roleplay, but that hadn’t been roleplay, or what Lila had wanted, but what Tom had. And the, recognition, of the stranger who’d invaded his mind, and raped his wife brought a nausea to the pit of his stomach, and as Tom reversed the car, with his gaze fixated on the living room windows, he wound

Another challenge that arises with the process of puberty is the loss of innocence. In the vignette, “The Family of Little Feet”, readers can see how Esperanza and her friends learn the disturbing price of beauty as they experience their first encounter with provocative remarks. During this encounter, a bum says“ Your little lemon shoes are so beautiful. But come closer, I can’t see very well. Come closer. Please… Rachel, you are prettier than a yellow taxicab. You know that?” (Cisneros 41). After this incident, readers can observe how the girls’ childhood game of dress up turned into a promiscuous encounter with the reality of becoming women. When girls make the transition from childhood to adulthood, their bodies will start to change, and with that comes sexual innuendos they have not heard until now. Usually, a child’s innocence is lost over the course of a few years, but unfortunately in Esperanza’s situation, she was cruelly taken advantage of. The vignette, “ Red Clowns”, is about how Esperanza is sexually abused against her will at a carnival. When Esperanza recounts the horrid experience she says, “The one who grabbed my by the arm, he wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you, Spanish girl, I love you, and pressed his sour mouth to mine” (Cisneros 100). After this traumatic assault, it can be inferred that Esperanza’s innocence

Throughout time, there has been a battle present in which females try to rise above the power of men and the hold they have on women. Whether the battle be for the equal treatment of both sexes or simply establishing a level of respect and understanding from the opposite sex, the meaning stands the same in which there is an ever-present power struggle that is continuously ongoing between the sexes. No matter the intentional meaning of the work, women suppression by men are seen when one looks beyond the simple statements given and examines the female characters in great detail to better understand the struggle she endures daily due to men. One author in particular that allows an interesting viewpoint into the mind of a blossoming woman is Susan Minot. Minot demonstrates in her story “Lust” how the female narrator is influenced and altered by her male sexual partners. Through each sexual encounter, the reader is able to see the changes these encounters have on the young woman emotionally and other affects a man has on her as she grows up in a male dominated world. This can all be determined by observing closely the figurative language used in the story, the fluctuations in emotions seen in the female character, and the thoughts the woman has about men throughout the story.

image into our heads of a sexual exchange from everyone. In the first chapter the author

After being taken sexually advantage of, Esperanza repeats the phrase “you lied” to declare that Sally and the media have lied to her by saying sex is a pleasant experience. Furthermore, constantly repeating “you lied” shows that Esperanza has been traumatized by this experience; Esperanza realizes the women who have been assaulted were not magnifying the devastating psychological effects. Likewise, the statement, “He wouldn’t let me go. He said I love you Spanish girl.” is a statement which is repeated throughout the vignette. A boy saw Esperanza and grabbed her for his own sexual desire. Esperanza repeats the thought of being caressed without her consent and this creates the psychological effect of her seeing men as predators. This illustrates that groping negatively affects the way its victims look at the world. By using these structural elements to describe Esperanza’s first sexual encounter, Cisneros shows the harmful psychological effects sexual assault causes and sympathy for these people is instilled into the readers, because they know the harm that has been

It not only threatens, but also breaks through. Betrayed by love once in her life, she nevertheless seeks it in the effort to fill the lonely void; thus, her promiscuity. But to adhere to her tradition and her sense of herself as a lady, she cannot face this sensual part of herself. She associates it with the animalism of Stanley's lovemaking and terms it “brutal desire”. She feels guilt and a sense of sin when she does surrender to it, and yet she does, out of intense loneliness. By viewing sensuality as brutal desire she is able to disassociate it from what she feels is her true self, but only at the price of an intense inner conflict. Since she cannot integrate these conflicting elements of desire and gentility, she tries to reject the one, desire, and live solely by the other. Desperately seeking a haven she looks increasingly to fantasy. Taking refuge in tinsel, fine clothes, and rhinestones, and the illusion that a beau is available whenever she wants him, she seeks tenderness and beauty in a world of her own making.

If marriage is purpose driven as I have suggested then I would argue that sexual fidelity is what holds it together and that without it a marriage won’t last. I think that because in the end no matter how many people protest that sexual satisfaction can be separated from exclusive love, a point the Wasserstrom touches on, I disagree because I think it is hard wired into us. Maybe as some scientist have suggested it is because as we have sex with the same person over and over again oxytocin is released into our brain to rewire us to only be attracted to that other person. Maybe this is what causes humans to be jealous of others who are having sex with the person we have sexual feelings for. Even if it isn’t the reason I still think it can be said that most humans become jealous if the one they having sex with goes and has sex with another. This wanting of sexual exclusivity isn’t a bad thing, I think, because it has helped the human race survive by holding families together. Families that stay together tend to have a more stable environment which in turn has resulted in healthier, more socially adjusted children then families that aren’t as stable. Additionally lower jealousy among individuals leads to a more productive and less combative environment always a plus in our complex societies. Thus, I think, that until we biologically evolve to be wired differently, most people will continue to define marriage as requiring sexual fidelity. Also

Love and lust are both universal and are constantly being applied in the lives of people

Her lack of response to the clerks advances along with her depiction as “hardly aware of her departed lover” (250) reveal how sex is not associated with love in her mind. Perhaps most importantly, the action shown in the phrase “smoothes her hair with automatic hand” (255) epitomizes this detached and passionless sexual encounter. With this automatic hand we know that this encounter is not anomalous, but routine--as everything in the typist’s life has become mechanized. The degrading effect of this mechanization is the loss of meaning in life which has extended from her job as a typist to her relationship with a lover. No thought is put into these actions, just as no thought is put into a meaningful connection between the two.