Spanish 3302

Throughout the book I kept asking myself if Billy was ever going to find himself. I feel that the book was all about a search…the search for his identity. Maybe that’s why in the beginning he wanted to take the wolf back to where it belonged. He had a connection with the wolf and by returning the wolf he’d feel satisfacation and possibly completion.

Boyd is able to find himself and establish a rep or identity for himself…you can say he was finally happy since he also found love. Meanwhile, Billy is in search of something or someone. He is determined to find Boyd and throughout the quest he begins to realize that he is becoming a man. We begin to see that there’s an aggresiveness in Billy that wasn’t seen before. He’s not as quiet…he begins to speak up.  The whole quest is important and the people that he runs into. All the details…the short stories..they begin to transform Billy.

Juan and I worked on the passage that is on page 158 where the priest speaks about the lesson of life.

Philosophical View1. We need to be taught lessons by others which is why we need witnesses.
Religous View2. God needs no witness because He is god and knows everything.
Combined3. If there were no god there’d be no witnesses, if there were no witnesses there’d be no identity, which would then mean there’d be no lessons and no history.

I feel that Billy and the wolf connect in so many ways. Wolves are known for being wild and untamed. Billy seems to want to be independent and free of the domestic duties he has to perform every day and not to mention the not so good relationship he has with his dad. Throughout the first part of the book we see how Billy and the wolf connect. The wolf is mystical and you could say that there is also something mysterious about Billy. He is quiet and doesn’t seem to explain too much. I mean, he did leave his home without telling anyone about it. Billy is in search of something..maybe himself..he goes out of his way to take the wolf back where it belongs because the wolf has been running loose in the wilderness..so Billy wants to make the wolf’s search easier. So once Billy decided to take the wolf back..a journey begins. The journey brings the wolf and Billy together because without knowing they are both going back home to where they belong.

One of the passages that caught my attention regarding the relationship between the wolf and Billy is on page 89. “The wolf snubbed up close on the rope and starting and quivering…When he touched her, her skin ran and quivered…He talked to her about his life….After a while he sang to her…” There are also times in the books where we read how Billy would sit for hours and stare at the wolf. He’ll just analyze her and she will analyze him. It’s like there’s a connection between them when they lock eyes. Maybe Billy can see himself in the wolf which is why she amazed him so much.

Is hunting of the wolf a question of machismo of something deeper? I don’t think that Billy’s hunting for the wolf is much because of machismo. I really think that Billy is so intrigued with the wild and getting to know more about it. He’s so caught up with what the wild or obsessed with what it has to offer. Maybe we can say that in the beginning there is some machismo with the hunting of the wolf but it’s clear that later on in the story it’s not about that anymore. He learns the ways of wolves and later on learns the ways of men. All this makes him analyze himself without knowing it.

In “Real Women Have Curves,” we see Ana who is not happy with her place in society. I think she is in search for her identity. She wants to be in control of her life in other words her destiny. Her mom degrades her but only because she envies her. Don’t get me wrong, her mom does want the best for her but culture and religion once again play a huge role in the protagonist life. We discussed in class how the mother felt that Ana was obligated to work and help the family. Ana wants out of this so in the beginning Ana doesn’t know what she is in search of but she’s in search of that space that she can belong to, “Un espacio que sea de ella” which is why she seems desperate and frustrated. There are two spaces she belongs to. The factory and her home. But these two places are an isolation for her. She’s ashamed and embarrassed of the factory she has to work in. She seems selfish but only because she wants to do better. She’s been educated so why not continue if the opportunity is knocking at her door.

A scene that I thought was very important was when the grandfather, father, and Ana were sitting at the table talking. Here we see three generations. The grandfather who has gone and done what he’s needed to do and is satisfied and then the father who came to the US for a better life and Ana who is able to liberate all of them from the stereotypical name. When the grandfather tells Ana that he found his gold and now it’s time for her to find hers….I think it is here where Ana starts to truly accept who she is but at the same time realizes that it’s time to make a change because change isn’t always bad.

Okay, this short story was very interesting. It was really sad. Her life, she knows how bad her life has been and the decisions that she made have been stupid. Even though she messed up, I think admiting that she made all those mistakes is her saying, “Yes i messed up but i was in control.I made those decisions on my own.” But at the same time she goes back and forth with what she talks about. She tries to do what’s right and logic but at the same time the passion in her sleeping around is stronger.

The title Never Marry a Mexican is interesting. She only sleeps with white men and she declares to never be a wife. Marrying a mexican means settling down and have a home to take care of. She doesn’t want that. She’s always on the go and in control. She also says that all men are unfaithful and unreliable. They all end up cheating or leaving. But i think that deep down inside she’s still dealing with her fathers death since her mom practically disowned her and her sister. She knows there’s no home to go to so why start one of her own if it never worked for her mom. She plays tough but I think she’s dealing with so much rejection.

Okay so “One Holy Night” seems to be the typical teenage pregnancy story. We’re reading a flashback on how this young imature girl falls in love with an older guy. He seems to be smart and heroic but like all the stories in this book, it has no happy ending. She loses her innocence but feels great about it because she feels like she’s in control of her life. In control of destiny. These feelings are only temporary because Boy Baby later leaves and she is left alone. The guy is weird and a murderer. Although it is never said that he is a murderer but the guns, the lies, the dead bodies imply he was a murderer which makes the story even more interesting. Being a murderer probably gave him a sense of being in control of all those womens destiny. What also caught my attention was how Ixchel finds out that Boy baby was born in a town called MISERIA… his whole life seemed to be a misery.

When Ixchel purposely leaves the pushcart behind I think we can see that as symbolism of her trying to forget the degrading life she lived because boy baby was offering a life of passion. But giving up the simple life she lived was giving up her innocence. One of the story’s theme is the power of control and truth. Ixchel gave her innocence over to boy baby and she believed every word he said. The story begins with a quote about truth. We have to learn how to distinguish truth and lies.

I was also trying to figure out why Boy baby didn’t kill Ixchel. Why did he leave her alive? I don’t think he knew she was expecting but maybe planned to get her pregnant. Like she says, “I can feel the animal inside me stirring in his own uneven sleep.” It seems like he wanted to create another Boy baby..another monster.

The film, “Que Viva Mexico”, was an interesting film that challenges the way we see the mexican indegenous culture. Throughout the film we see several examples of religion and the mexican culture. For example, in the beginning of the film we see how the gods, and statues portray the indegenous culture but at the same time we see how the spanish culture is reflected. Like in the bullfighting or when the men crawl on their knees for miles to get to pyramids to reach the Virgin of Guadalupe.

What caught my attention the most was seeing the women work just as hard as the men. Their goal was to work hard to earn gold coins for their necklace. The wedding was also unique and different. It was respectful and honoring. It made you appreciate it much more. The way they dressed, danced, prayed, and even the way they walked. You can see here how mexican culture and religion is portrayed. There is a combination of both.

I think what Eisenstein wanted to portray is that mexicans were well organized and their beliefs shaped them just like everyone else. He is showing us that Mexico can also be a modern well developed country. Take their art for example. It can be appreciated because the film begins with the pyramids and statues. Something that they created. What we see, all the statues, “fiestas”, workers, and other events are a story. A story that these people are just as civilized as anybody else.

Although Eisenstein wasn’t able to see finish the film or edit it the way he might’ve intended too…I think his film still captures the history, culture, and religous effects of Mexico and its mestizaje.

While reading The Underdogs, there were three things that caught my attention.
First of all, I noticed that the author would throw in some spanish words. I think it’s pretty interesting how the author does this because it makes us the readers feel more invloved with the story. It makes it seem more realistic. Also, when the men are wounded in battle the women tend to use remedies to heal the wounds. pg.18 This can compare to CdV where there are remedies used by the indians to heal the wounded.
Finally, the fighting and the battles is very interesting… pg. 26 “We are part of a great social movement whose goal is to make our country greater. We are the insturments of destiny who will vindicate the sacred rights of the people. We are not fighting to overthrow a miserable assasin, but to overthrow tyranny itself.” The men fighting tend to be fighting for their reputations and other reasons also. What I also like is that apart from the fighting, I think it’s comical in some way. When the men gather together and talk mean to each other or crack jokes about each other is pretty funny.

“Outside the classroom, such as mass media as films and television play a formative role. Beyond their role as entertainment, these mass media-particularly feature films and television series-operate as informal textbooks on values, attitudes, perceptions, and behavior.According to film historian Lewis Jacobs.”

I had never really realized how much information I wasn’t being told until I began to major in Spanish at UTA. For as long as I can remember Mexicans have always been the slackers, the ones who didn’t know how to fight, or the weaker link. Mass media and textbooks do play such an important role in molding an image of a certain culture or belief. We as students are always taught to listen to our educators because what they teach us is either true or very important so we walk through life believing in what we are told. But a combination of the textbooks and mass media also helps us form an opinion and stereotype others. Pg 285 “…United States motion picture treatment of Latin America, which gave special emphasis to Mexico, found that negativism patronzing attitudes, and historical distortions pervaded these films.” A movie is made to entertain, not so much to teach us history.So when it starts to effect and disort Mexican and Latin American history in the U.S. than something must change.

According to “Harmony and Conflict,” a survey was made and Mexico was ranked as the less attractive, poorest, and weakest nation. We have always been taught that the motives for the spanish, “gold, gospel, and glory.” And then we were taught that they failed. This image is created and the images in never a really good one. I recently came back from visiting friends in Mexico and during a conversation about Mexican history my friend commented, “Well here in my country we believe United States stole Texas and so much more from us. Our people were mistreated and misjudged.” I really didn’t know what to respond to his comment. Because according to our textbooks US won Texas fair and square, it was something patriotic.

Giving mexican histroy two chapters isn’t enough to teach all that needs to be taught. There is so much more to teach. So may say that we are in the United States and we’re here to learn about U.S. History more than anything and that may be true but if Mexican history is going to be given just two chapters and a movie than at least tell it like it is.

I didn’t consider the movie to be racist. If there was any racism then maybe it was from both sides, anglo and mexicans. Each side wanted what they thought was best and the anglos didn’t live according to the rules that S.A. ordered them to live by. But then again you can’t force anyone to live by your rules if they dont’ want to. I don’t think there’ s enough evidence to see or tell if the film was racist or not. Also, I think the role of the women in the movie is important. They play the loving girlfriend or wife which motivate the men to fight and do something about the abuse they recieve from the mexicans. I think it was very interesting how they were helping while the battles were going on. They would help with the amunition and the guns. They didn’t just sit there and cry…well not at least till the very end that is when they were defeated.