Ihum 260

I took this class because my wife is from Mexico City and I thought that it would be a good opportunity to learn more about her culture. I have really enjoyed everything, and feel that I have learned a lot throughout the semester. My favorite material would be Bless Me, Ultima and Latin paintings section.

The main thing that I liked about Bless Me, Ultima was that it reminded me of my childhood. There were a lot of scenes from the book that brought back fond memories of things that my friends and I did. I almost died laughing during the play, when all the kids were out of control. I especially remember a part when one of the kids swears in Spanish and the teacher asked him what that meant and he said something like (I don’t remember the exact words) it means lets go. Even more important than the memories that the book reminded me of was the lessons learned from it. Personally, one of the biggest takeaways from the book is tolerance of others people and their beliefs. I cringed at the part that the little kids were saying that Florence was going to go to hell because he wasn’t Catholic. Those scenes made his death very powerful. Can you imagine what the kids must have felt like after his death? It is also obvious that they would not act that way if they hadn’t learned it from their parents. Living in a Mormon community it was a good reminder of the example that I should set and how we all should treat everyone, whether we have the same beliefs or not.

I really enjoyed the paintings that we studied because I could see the progression of how Latin American artists created their own genre. I feel like they started doing what was being done in other parts of the world but then strayed from that and created their own style that screams Mexican Culture with every fiber and paint stroke.

Bless Me, Ultima

"Life is filled with sadness when a boy grows to be a man. But as you grow into manhood you must not despair life, but gather strength to sustain you, can you understand that." (Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, pg. 245)

One of the main themes of Bless Me, Ultima is the growth of Tony from a boy to a man. Unfortunately for Tony, his growth to a boy began early with dramatic experiences like seeing Lupito, Narcisco and Florence die. 

How Tony became a man reminded me of the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. At one point in the movie James Bond returns to his childhood home, where he had witnessed his parents death as a young boy. There is a scene where his old game keeper shows M, Bonds boss, a secret passage that leads to a church. He says that when Bonds parents died he hid in the passage for several days. He then says that Bond entered the secret passage as a boy, but came out a man. 

A similar experience is lived by Tony in Bless Me, Ultima. It is interesting how Anaya writes about the different deaths that Tony sees. At the beginning of the book he sees Lupito, a man who was crazy and killed the sheriff, get shot near the bridge. Towards the middle of the book he witnesses Narcisco, who was trying to save Ultima, get murdered by Tenorio. At the end of the book he sees Florence, and innocent boy who doesn't believe in God, drown. Because of living these experiences he is shipped off to work at his uncle's farm, where he uses these experiences to become a man.

Tony continually questions why all these things have happened. He seeks the wisdom of his father on the way to the farm. He finally understands Ultimas message for him, quoted above, that he must take all these life experiences and use them to become a man and a better person, a person that can help and care for other people, like Ultima. Tony's father articulated this idea to Tony when he told him:

"Understanding comes with life, as a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, plays, meets people, sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having sympathy for people, Ultima has sympathy for people, and it is so complete that with it she can touch their souls and cure them." (Rodulfo Anaya, Bless me, Ultima, pg. 248) 

It is a lesson that everyone could benefit from learning. 

Bless Me, Ultima

"They all gathered around me and asked me where I live and about school. They were good friends, even though they sometimes said bad words, and that day I became a part of their gang." (Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya, pg. 38)

I have never been to New Mexico, I did not grow up speaking Spanish, my father is not a cowboy, and my mother is not a farmer yet Rudolfo Anaya finds a beautiful way to help me connect with his book, Bless Me, Ultima. This is achieved by simple experiences that Antonio has in the novel, that break down cultural and human barriers, to unite long lost feelings of child hood. The passage above reminds me of the movie 'The Sandlot' and numerous childhood experiences. 

In the movie The Sandlot the main character, Smalls, moves to a new city and doesn't have any friends. The local gang of kids are baseball fanatics, and although Smalls doesn't know how to play baseball he dreams of joining the group of friends. Rodriguez, the group leader, takes Smalls into the fold and helps him to become part of the group.

In 'Bless Me, Ultima' Antonio goes behind the church because he knows that is where the kids from school hang out. He mentions that he doesn't actually know them but has learned their names and personalities from watching and observing them. He talks about Horse, Bones and Vitamin Kid and why they have those nicknames. It is obvious that he has carefully observed them and dreamed of being part of the group. When Horse notices him for the first time and Antonio flips him, he immediately becomes part of the group, similar to what happens with Smalls.

The two stories also remind me of each other because of the nicknames that each kid has. Similar to Bless Me, Ultima, in the sandlot all the kids have nicknames like Ham, Yeah-Yeah, and Squints which resemble their physical and personality traits.

What these two stories achieve is a masterful connection with our childhood feelings and memories. Personally, while reading or watching these stories,  I remember the change from Elementary School to Middle School and the feelings that I had being accepted into my group of friends. Memories of my friends nicknames like ffl, tuna, and tubs come to mind. I find myself immersed in the stories because they seem so similar to my personal experiences. That is the complicated formula that Anaya and few others have mastered and used to create classics like Bless Me, Ultima or The Sandlot.

Black Orpheus

"The happiness of the poor is the great illusion of carnival." (Orpheus, Black Orpheus)

In class we talked about carnivalesque, the idea of two opposites, black and white, good and bad, or like stated in class yin and yang. In Black Orpheus there were several examples of this idea.

The movie starts out in a poor village where there are kids dancing and playing with no shoes on.. Quickly we are swept away to the city where there are large buildings and everything looks clean. While Orpheus and Eurydice travel on the tram they cross a beautiful bridge of arches and then end up in the poor village again. The contrast is very obvious and is drawn upon several times throughout the movie.

Another example is the difference between Eurydice and Mira. Mira is loud, obnoxious, self centered, etc. and Eurydice is the exact opposite. The most interesting part is not that they are opposites but that Orpheus is engaged to Mira but in love with Eurydice. 

Towards the end of the film Orpheus runs after Eurydice to save her but ends up actually killing her, obviously the opposite of what he intended on doing. 

The greatest example in the movie come from a line that Orpheus sings while carrying Eurydice back to the village, and is quoted above. The celebration of carnival is poor people dressing like kings and parading around for all to see. Hence the use of the word carnivalesque to sum up this idea.

After speaking about this in class, and before watching this movie I watched it's trailer, which is incredibly carnivalesque as can be seen.

Circular Ruins

"After nine or ten nights he understood with a certain bitterness that he could expect nothing from those pupils who accepted his doctrine passively, but that he could expect something from those those who occasionally dared to oppose him." (Jorge Borges, The Circular Ruins, 58)

This experience that the man in the circular ruins has with his pupils, as stated above, reminds me of Newton's laws of motion. Newton's laws of motion are:

1. First, is an object experiences no net force, then its velocity is constant.
2. Second, the acceleration of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force acting on the body, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the body.
3. Third, when a first body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force on the first body. This means that the forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Although Newton's laws are describing motion of physical objects, the same principle is evident in our lives if we can imagine ourselves like objects and challenges ("pushes")  presented to us by others as a force. These laws can be applied to any facet of our lives like education, work, sports, music etc. 

First, if a person is never "pushed" to improve then they will continue on their same path, continually doing the same things. Many times we make the same mistakes repeatedly. Maybe even worse, is being content with the same successes throughout our lives, never looking to improve.   

Second, if a person is "pushed" in a certain direction he will follow in that direction. How far he travels in that direction depends on how hard of a "push" he is given. As an example, my wife taught middle school children while also working as a lawyer, now almost four years later most of her students are studying law. Although she is small, her "push" was very large and her students allowed themselves to be "pushed".  

Third, when one is "pushed" by someone then they "push" back. As stated by Newton these "pushes" are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Everyone knows the common phrase: "two minds are better than one". Examples of the importance of teamwork are found everywhere in life; partners lifting weights together and students studying together are just a few examples. 

Borges knew that to grow and improve as human beings we need to be "pushed" by challenges. If we are not willing to oppose these challenges (forces) then nothing great can be expected from us, just like the pupils in the circular ruins.

Flower Day

Diego Rivera, Flower Day, 1925, Ades pg. 197

This painting by Diego Rivera shows the Mexican spirit despite the reality of their social, economic and historical burdens.

Most Americans love the cultural experiences that they have had with Mexicans because of the happiness and warmth that they give. The Mexican spirit is beautifully displayed with a wide variety of vibrant colors transmitting the loving happiness of the Mexican culture. Traditional clothing and braids depict the exotic culture cherished by so many. Lastly, the lovely calla lilies create a national symbol that all Mexicans can identify with. For example my wife did not use a traditional bouquet in our wedding; she only used a few eloquent calla lilies.

Mexico is traditionally known as a chauvinistic country where the wife carries out all of the burdens of the home. The faces of men can be seen in the background watching a woman carry a large and presumably heavy basket of flowers, while two other women kneel in the dirt working, as one even carries a baby on her back. More importantly than showing the traditional responsibilities of Mexican women is the representation of their strength, sacrifice and dedication to the family.

Many Americans cannot and will not ever understand the poverty of Mexico and other Latin countries. It is hard to imagine hope and or happiness in a situation like theirs, yet anyone who has spent significant time with a Mexican knows of the joy they find in life. The women in the painting are working in the street without shoes representing their poverty, but their incredibly clean clothes show the hope, happiness and joy that the Mexican can find in any situation.

Flowers, and especially calla lilies, were very important to the Mexican Indians and are sometimes used to symbolize them. The woman carrying the lilies could represent one of two things. Either the Mexican carrying the burden of their roots from their Indian past and the conquest for the pessimist, or the Mexican carrying along the memory and tradition of their Indian past for the optimist. I personally like to believe in the second. 

Tell Them Not to Kill Me!

"Providence will take care of them, Justino. You go there now and see what you can do for me. That's what matters now."

The theme of this short story can be found in all of our lives. Juan Rulfo captures perfectly our human flaws not only through the main character Juvencio, but also through his son Justino and the Colonel. The flaw that Rulfo focuses on, which is also the theme of the story, is the importance and desire for things that we do and do not have.

The most interesting example is that of Justino and the Colonel. The Colonel did not have a father growing up because Juvencio killed him. He hunts down Juvencio years after his father was murdered. He is still angry for being robbed of a father figure in his life. He is willing to do anything to get revenge for what was taken from him. Although he never really knew his father his desire to revenge his death is unstoppable. On the other hand Justino grew up with a father. Yet while his father pleaded for Justino to save his life he coldly responds no. It almost seems like he could care less what happens to his father and is only worried about himself. Juan Rulfo delicately intertwines the idea that one person, Justino, does not value what another person, the Colonel, so desperately desires.

The idea of desiring what we do not have is also displayed through Juvencio. Because Juvencio let his animals into his neighbors farm to eat his food, his neighbor killed one of his animals, and then Juvencio killed his neighbor. Juvencio blames it on Don Lupe, his neighbor, because there was a drought and he would not let his animals feed on his land. In reality he never had a right to his neighbors land or food.

We can see this principle continue to play on in the lives of many people today. Part of the economic problems of the USA is because of people creating debt that they cannot afford. Because we as humans are slow to value what we have yet fast to desire what we do not we continue to bring suffering upon ourselves just like Juvencio suffered throughout his life.