Sunday, March 15, 2009
Blog #3
Even though this example is near the beginning of the book, it is the passage that stands out to me the most so far in the book. The example I thought of was from chapter 4 when the Reyes family, in Lala's part of the book, are crossing the border from the United States to Mexico. Lala is describing the car trip and her memories of Mexico using lots of her senses. I suppose you could call the literary device imagery. What I think is so unique about the imagery the author uses is that it includes sound, smell, sight, touch,and taste, which lots of authors don't do. It reminds me of the descriptions in "All the Prettty Horses" since those descriptions were also very detailed. Also, the passage compares items in the United States to the equivalent items in Mexico, like how a spoon is a different weight. I think this expresses how Lala thinks like a child. She is curious and very observant of her surroundings. It also affects Lala when she goes into new places, like her grandmother's house, or when her mom takes her out to lunch. Lala wants to absorb everything new around her.
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I definitely agree that Lala wants to absorb everything new around her, and that the descriptions using all senses show that she is a child. But, sometimes her descriptions of conversations are hard to follow. Lala is using all of her senses, and then not understanding what the people are actually talking about.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about that too. Lala observes lots of things, but doesn't understand the meaning of them necessarily. For example,she doesn't understand what her parents are fighting about after they go on the cruise.
ReplyDeleteIt made me kind of confused to read that section. I didn't get what they were fighing about, and I think that's because Lala didn't get what they were fighting about, either.
ReplyDeleteI agree that that part was frustrating. I think her mom was just mad that she felt like an outsider in the family. I think she feels like the Awful Grandmother still thinks she's inadequate for her mijo.
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely: Lala can tell that her parents are fighting (it's kind of obvious...) but she doesn't understand why. I think this has to do (once again) with her being a child. They are so observant and yet have such short attention spans. As Linnea said, Lala does want to absorb everything around her, but once she's established what is on the surface, I don't think she cares so much about what is underneath. She may not understand, or she may have lost interest. It may also be just a product of her age: she isn't used to thinking about things deeply or willing to analyze situations. It's kind of advanced stuff for her age. Then again, I may be completely wrong...
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