"Es que duele"

Uno de los abuelos de un amigo mexicano, que vivia en Washington, sabia desde que era muy pequeno lo que queria hacer con su vida. Quiera ser peluquero. Su familia le pregunto, "porque tienes un deseo tan fuerte de ser peluquero?", y el les dijo que cuando era pequeno habia ido por un corte de pelo y habia esperado y esperado y esperado, mientras que el peluquero ayudaba a los otros clientes. Cuando le pregunto al peluquero porque tenia que esperar tanto, el peluquero le enseno el letrero en la puerta de la peluqueria:"No Mexicans". Desde entonces, el queria ser peluquero.
Estuve muy sorprendida cuando vi la replica de esta historia en "...y no se lo trago la tierra". Lo pense y me di cuenta de que estas experiencias han de haber sido muy comunes para los Mexicanos que trabajaban y vivian en los Estados Unidos hace medio siglo. No nos damos cuenta del sufrimiento que ocurria en ese mundo.
Este libro es un cuento de horror, de perdida de creencia, de ignorancia y desesperacion .
Los trabajadores de la historia viven en un lugar indeterminado, entre Dios y el Diablo, entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos, entre la pobreza y los suenos. Explotados por los americanos que los emplean y hasta por otros mexicanos que tratan de enganarlos por dinero, se sienten traicionados por la promesa de la vida y algunos por Dios mismo.
Las imagines del libro son muy fuertes; la de los ninos quemaditos, de los campos de trabajo y la enfermedad del sol, del Diablo, de los viajes de noche al norte en la parte trasera de un camion. Estas imagines son muy dolorosas, muy reales, a veces espantosas.
La ultima pagina, en la cual el narrador ve una palma en el horizonte y se imagina que alli hay alguien trepado viendolo a el, y agita sus brazos para que esta persona vea que el esta alli, es un consuelo final. Buscandose los unos a los otros y compartiendo su experiencia es la salvacion de estos Mexicanos perdidos (Chicanos), que les dara fuerza.

El hombre se muestra bueno

Que no nos perdamos en quejarnos de lo complicado y descriptivo de los ensayos de Marti. Nos tenemos que perder en los ensayos mismos, y se nos abraran los ojos a un mundo que es simultaneamente colorido, absurdo, loco, doloroso y maravilloso. Tenemos que dejarnos ir con la corriente de las palabras, que fluyen tan naturalmente y con tanta velocidad, y absorber la pureza de la descripcion y del sentido. Estas obritas de Marti son perfectamente humanas. Reflejan la condicion humana con el fluido del tiempo corriendo descontroladamente a su alrededor, y las adaptaciones del humano a la modernidad.
Leer las descripciones de America segun Marti es darse cuenta de lo que es el espiritu de America (lo que era entonces, pero la America contemporanea se deriva de este mismo espiritu), algo que era entonces y es todavia una novedad para el mundo. No siempre es buena la representacion de este espiritu....hay cosas malas y buenas de la cultura Americana que siguen influyendo la direccion del mundo moderno....pero todas son unicamente Americanas, y Marti las retrata en una de las formas mas puras que he visto en la literatura. Las descripciones de la feria en Coney Island, de las costumbres, absurdas para los Cubanos para los cuales escribe Marti, de las mujeres y los hombre y los ninos que pasan los dias alli. De el "feeling" que impregna el lugar....de la falta de clase y moralidad de un lado, que Marti compara con su unica gente, "Aquellas gentes comen cantidad; nosotros clase"(Coney Island)....a lo esplendido que es la innovacion, la libertad, el capitalismo debajo de todo. Que los hombres, en la faz de la dificultad, del dolor, del caos de la vida, salen adelante.
Este espiritu tambien sale en "El Terremoto de Charleston", en el cual los hombres, blancos y negros juntos, vencen a la destruccion (fisica y emocional) de la terremoto, y despues de algunos dias de desesperacion, se encuentran trabajando juntos para seguir la vida. Que luchan encontra de la naturaleze y salen muy humillados, pero adelante (Esto tambien se discute en "Nueva York Bajo la Nieve"). Que el hombre se muestra bueno, despues de todo el dolor que inflige sobre el mundo (e.g. la discusion de esclavitud).
Otros temas en los ensayos: el de construccion, destruccion, y recontruccion (El puente de Brooklyn); el de la modernidad moral (discusiones de libertad en "Fiestas de la Estatua de la Libertad); el del racismo; el de la lucha entre el hombre y la naturaleza; el de la lucha entre el hombre y la historia; el de la hypocresia.
No creo que las descripciones de America en esta epoca sean totalmente negativas. Son verdaderas, eso es todo.

I'm feeling highly unsatisfied by the end of the novel. A lot of loose ends are left flapping in the breeze. And that nice grunt of satisfaction I emit when I finish a book refused to rise to my lips.
I'm not saying all literature has to have a neat, perfect ending in which everyone gets what they deserved and all plot lines are closed. Authors may use their artistic license as they please. But I certainly expected the classical Jane Austen-style writing of Ruiz de Burton to deliver as it had promised.
Mr. Hackwell sort of fades into the horizon, his retribution seeming mild. I wanted to see him suffer....he was no ambiguous, conflicted villain; he was clearly possessed by greed and lust, he was capable of the worst treachery without thinking twice. He should have been disgraced in front of society, made to plead and cry and feel the pain he inflicted upon others.
The reunion and imminent romantic bliss of Julian and Lola was left largely unmentioned, apart from a few basic sentences. The whole novel, I longed for them to have some explosion of passion and joy after so many trials...I'm not saying I wanted a sex scene (it can't be expected from a book like this, sadly), I just wanted all their goodness to come back to them, for them to be rewarded for being so pure and kind and moral.
The return of Doctor Norval, the beloved and benevolent patriarch, was hardly described. The mystery of his disappearance was left a mystery. His reactions to all that had happened in his absence, which I awaited eagerly, were omitted. He was such a big character in the first half that I expected much, much more.
On a lesser level, the weak and greedy Cackles continue their shenanigans in the government without any recognition of their blatant idiotic political ladder-climbing, and Ruth gets to marry a rich Cackle and continues with her superficial life.
Only Mrs. Norval losing her mind satisfied slightly my hunger for retribution. Even in her insanity, the kind Doctor protects her and keeps her from going into a mental institution.
And don't ask me WHAT was the deal with the last few pages.....Ruiz de Burton's political commentary getting out of hand and taking over the plot and becoming tedious. A bit of a disappointment.
But maybe Ruiz de Burton's intent was for us (or people in those days) to see that this stuff would continue on and on...that the bad guys don't always get what they deserve and neither do the good guys. That corruption and materialism and inequality are realities that transcend all time periods. And I see her point. I just wanted a Hollywood ending.

Sound familiar?

Feminism....Racism....Materialism...The absurdity of war....Government corruption...
Could be today.
Maria Ruiz de Burton's modern way of thinking has me impressed and smiling on almost every page. She's making these sharp, witty observations on many universal, transcendent issues that exist in today's society as well as in the 19th century. For a book written in 1872, the commentary is years ahead of its time, and all expressed with hilarious satirical flair.
It's not just that the issues she discusses still exist today. Her voice expresses opinions that are completely modern.
On women's role in society, Maria brings to our attention the power and strength of women in the family and in the war (Mrs. Norval, Lavinia Sprig), the ability of women to deal with political issues in a thoughtful and rational way, and the regular dismissal and scorn with which they are treated in attempts to express these things (Lavinia Sprig's encounter in Washington and the derision of Mr. Blower). She ridicules the old stuffy men who are against the franchise. All these things are very much a modern reality....and now women can vote, too.
On racism, Maria portrays the "bad" or "roguish" characters as racists, and the good as tolerant. Constant references by Mrs. Norval (the evil stepmother) and Ruth, her vacuous daughter, about "Indians" and "niggers" are contrasted by Lola's fair and kind treatment at the hands of good characters like Julian and the Doctor. The Confederates are the bad guys. Today, we condemn racism as superficial and illogical, as Maria has pointed out more than 100 years ago.
On materialism (a plague of today, in my opinion) Maria shows criticism of the Misses Norval's obsession with a certain lifestyle, especially clothes, and their idolatry of these things above what really matters (Ruth goes so far as to hope her brother Jules doesn't die so she doesn't have to wear black....she really wants to wear her new silks).
The absurdity of war is a timeless choice....we're dealing today with the same false heroes (like the Cackles, like Hackwell, who become heroes for their stupidity), the same creation of "enemies" using fear (Julian ponders the issue of killing his own countrymen), the same use of war policy by the government to achieve innoble aims (Blower's bizarre explanation to Lavinia about starving the enemy and thus their prisoners).
Government corruption is everywhere in the story. Men make their way to government posts through family connection and money. Members of respected institutions (like the Church...yes, this doesn't go under government but I will put it here) are frauds and hypocrites (Hackwell etc.)
Maria's criticism of these is expressed as a modern writer would express it.
This is what literature is about: the transcendent, the universal, the timeless.
I'm loving it.

Who would have thought.....that the bookstore would run out of Ruiz de Burton's book?

Hola

Hi, my name is Valerie...I'm an Economics major with a Spanish minor. I just came back from a year-long exchange to Barcelona, which I could probably call the best year of my life so far. mmmmhhmmm.