Starting Anew

     Doesn't everyone think about what they would be like if they could just change a few things in their past?  Who would you be if you were able to have a fresh start, in a place where nobody knew you?  In the book, Two Truths and a Lie, by Sara Shepard, that is one thing that the main character Emma gets to experience.  In her life, she's under a death threat she can't let anyone know about, and has to live the life of her dead twin sister.  However, her friend Ethan was able to take her to a place where no one knew her and she could be whoever she wanted to be.  Although that only lasted for a few hours, it really got me thinking about who people would be if they were able to "reinvent" themselves.

     When Emma was at the concert for the No Names, she was able to be anyone she wanted, and choose to do actions that no one would know if they were out of the ordinary for her.  This made me think that this is one reason why people run away, although I'm not for that at all.  It lets me understand how starting anew could be beneficial.  For example, you wouldn't be under the pressure of others because they wouldn't know that you're "not that kind of person."  Maybe the reason people keep doing things is because they feel pressured that that is who they are supposed to be.  However, if given the chance to start over in a new place, they would never do such things.  Overall, I think that starting anew is a great way to find out who you really are.  People can start anew when they get new jobs, meet new people, go to different schools, etc.  I think that when this happens, people should think about who they want to be, and not who they were.  That way, maybe people would be happier with who they are, without the weight of the past on their shoulders.

Ignorance

          Ignorance, or the lack of knowledge about a subject, can be associated with many things.  People may call you ignorant if you don’t know about the history of your own country, or not knowing about the holidays that other cultures celebrate.  They may call you ignorant for never going out of your neighborhood and exploring places, or not knowing what crisis is currently happening in the world such as an earthquake in Haiti or Japan.  There are many forms of ignorance that are talked about, written about, sung about, etc.  Although Martin Espada’s poems speak of many themes, I believe that his poems, The New Bathroom Policy at English High School, Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, and Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877 mainly circle around the theme of ignorance.  I think this because in each poem, there is a victim or some victims that are targeted by people who just don’t seem to care about their culture or other parts of their lives.

            In Espada’s poem The New Bathroom Policy at English High School, the group targeted is Spanish students.  The poem describes that a group of boys were talking in Spanish in the school bathroom.  As the principal listens in, “The only word he recognizes/is his own name.”  After that, the principal of the school banned speaking Spanish in the bathrooms.  I think he did this because he was worried that they were talking poorly of him, just because he heard his name. Since the poem never mentions that the principal asked the boys what they were talking about, I feel that the principal was being ignorant and made no effort to solve the problem differently because he didn’t care to know what they were talking about.  Or maybe if the principal had cared to learn the language that some children spoke in his school, he wouldn’t have banned it. Maybe he also would have been able to know if the boys were talking about what a wonderful school it was and how they really admired the principal or the other way around.  However, because he was ignorant, the principal did expel Spanish so that, “Now he can relax,” as the poem says in the last line.  The principal was also being ignorant because it seemed as though he didn’t care how the Spanish children would be affected by this decision and the poem does not describe him asking them at all.  Although the boys’ opinions were not written in the poem, I can only imagine what it would be like not to be able to speak their own language.  Language is part of everyone’s culture and to ban it seems very disrespectful.  The principal was ignorant not to realize how important one’s culture, or way of life can be.  Maybe before, the bathroom was a safe place to socialize and be one’s self with other people who spoke the same language, but after the language was banned, Spanish kids felt separated and unwelcome.  Because the principal was being ignorant of their culture, their feelings, and their language, the effect had a negative impact on the students.  By using this poem, Martin Espada exposed examples of ignorance.

            In the poem Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, Espada once again unearths examples of ignorance.  In this poem, the narrator speaks of how his name is often mispronounced.  The reason for this could be because others don’t care to learn how his name is pronounced, or that they know but say it incorrectly anyway.  Either way, they are being ignorant of the narrator’s culture and feelings.  For example, the narrator is obviously hurt when this happens to him because the poem says, “Whenever my name/is mispronounced/I want to…hijack a busload/of Republican tourists/from Wisconsin/force them to chant/anti-American Slogans/in Spanish…”  People who mispronounce his name should be considered ignorant because they should realize that he is angered by it.   I bet that they probably wouldn’t appreciate it if people always ignored how strongly they felt about something.  Also, different cultures and languages pronounce words and names differently, and it can be very ignorant not to know or care about that.  The narrator is most likely not just American, but maybe Spanish as well.  I interpret this because the narrator emphasizes that when they mispronounce his name, he wants to put on an outfit described as resembling that of a Spanish Revolutionary and wants the Republicans to chant “in Spanish/and wait/for the bilingual SWAT team.” Spanish and bilingual are the key words there.  And yet, the people who say his name incorrectly choose to disrespect his culture and his feelings out of ignorance that he is of a different descent and his people may say things differently. Overall, the theme of this poem is also ignorance.

            Finally, in Espada’s poem Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877, he described an actual historical event where two were hung because they were Mexican.  The author stresses how the vigilantes didn’t even care because even though the event was horrible, more than anything else, they were, “all crowding into the photograph.”  This makes me think that in some way, all of them wanted to be remembered as part of this event. Because of this, they were being ignorant and rude about the affect it would have on the two lynched.  I think this because the poem describes the two men as, “trussed like cousins of the slaughterhouse/dangling in the bowed mute humility/of the condemned.” I think this quote means that the men will forever be humiliated.  The vigilantes involved also were ignorant of their culture because they didn’t seem to care about how the men will become, “Guitar-plucking skeletons/…on the Dia de los Muertos.”   Because they all crowded into the photograph shows that they had no respect for the culture, affects, or family of the two men hung.  Maybe if they had cared to know about those things, they would have had more of a conscience over whether it was such a just thing to do.  The main idea in this poem is ignorance, which is expressed through the vigilantes in the photograph.

            In conclusion, the poems The New Bathroom Policy at English High School, Revolutionary Spanish Lesson and Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877 clearly show the affects of ignorance by using ignorance as the main theme.  These poems demonstrate ignorance of personal feelings, culture, language, the affects on the victim and their families, etc.  I think that Martin Espada wants to let us know that this type of ignorance does occur and that we should be wary of if we ever do it or see others disrespecting people through it.  Maybe he is also telling us to open their minds to the idea of how being ignorant, even in small ways can make someone feel bad or how it can be disrespectful and harmful.  I hope that more people will want to know about other cultures or things going on outside of their life and try to prevent this type of social injustice.

The Gray Area

     Most people want their food not too hot and not too cold.  In class we discussed whether we'd want people to never acknowledge that correct pronunciation of our names or to know the correct way, but not to say it.  And in my book, Two Truths and a Lie by Sara Shepard, the main character Emma doesn't know if she'd rather have a family who is always pestering her about her whereabouts, or a family that doesn't care at all.  These things make me think about how maybe a perfect life lies in what some refer to as the "gray area."

     I think about this because of the many needs that people all around the world have.  For example, those who have overprotective parents may wish for them to be more carefree, while those with unsupportive, uncaring families may wish for overprotective parents.  These types of things make me envision a ball bouncing back and forth between the two sides.  But maybe, the person who lives their life in the gray area where the parents are lenient but still care a lot about their child will wish for nothing more from their family.  This gray area in the middle just seems like a safe haven for life.  There is nothing too much or too little.  Another example of this is in my book, is how the main character Emma first lived in the life of poverty and foster care.  Back then, all she wished for was money and a family.  But now that she has that, she seems to be overwhelmed with trying to deal with the stuck up rich friends of hers and the family that loves her, but often points out her flaws.  In conclusion, I have realized a pattern with having too much or too little.  I think that everyone, including those who appear to have everything, can find something wrong with what they have.  That is why, I think that the gray area, or the place in between having too much or too little would most likely be the area where complaint is at its minimum.  It's a place where the person doesn't really have everything, and yet, they do. 

Tiger Moms

     It has come to my attention that many people are interested about tiger moms.  In the book I am reading, Bitter Melon, by Cara Chow, the main character faces a tiger mom.  Tiger moms are usually referred to as chinese parents that push their children to get the best grades, by limiting social interaction, having long nights of studying, and obeying the parents.  They can be very hard to satisfy and many people today who had to experience this are now in therapy.  It's hard to just tell you about it, but Frances, the main character of my book gives great examples of the kind of lifestyle.
      For example, when Frances  was younger, her mother had her wear a jade bracelet, which brings health, according to the Chinese religion.  Because the bracelet dug into her skin when she wrote, and clanged into things, Frances had changed her writing hand.  But when her mother caught her, she told Frances that she'd have to eat the bracelet unless she used her regular hand.  In the book, Frances had said, "I had a difficult time that year, unable to reach things with my left hand, and unable to make noise with my right."  As said in my previous post, Frances' tiger mom wants her to go to UC Berkeley to become a medical doctor and buy a house they can live in together.  Although this is not what Frances wants at all, she knows her mother will possibly beat her if she does not work as hard as she can in school so that she can get into the college.  Another example was that even though Frances won in her speech competition, her mother beat her with her own trophy because she didn't take the calculus class instead.  And when Derek wanted to ask Frances to the dance, her mother picked up the phone and said Frances didn't live there.  Later, she told Frances she was ugly, and that's why no boy would ever want to be with her.  These are just a few examples of life with a tiger mom.  The results can be hard to bear.  For example,  Frances didn't understand the concept of unconditional love because her mother never loved her just for who she was.
     In conclusion, tiger moms can be very hard to satisfy and often limit any social interactions.  In Frances' case, her mom insulted her and made her feel bad about herself so that she would give up on things like boys.  Though some may ask, "Why doesn't Frances just stand up against her mom?" the truth is that it would be very insulting to the parents.  In Chinese culture, the parents are always right and to say that they are wrong, they "lose face" and their high position in the family.  However, I believe that standing up or getting help from others is the only way to stop such a hard way of life.  I hope that one day, this way of living will not be as popular.  It can cause both anger in the parents and children, and leave them scarred.  This book has really touched my heart and has had me get a much better understanding of the ways of some Chinese families.  When I see people making fun of asians because of the stereotypes that they are unsocial and too smart, I want to remind them that there may be a reason for that, such as have tiger moms.  I hope that other who read this book, will open their minds to social justice and treating everyone the way they should be.