LITR 4332: American Minority Literature

Sample Student Final Exam Answers 2002

Question 2 on Mexican American Literature & Culture

Whether or not the  Mexican American is considered a minority depends on perspective. On one hand, many Mexican Americans cross the border to the United States for economic opportunity. These people can be considered immigrants; however, if one considers the border between the United States and Mexico  as a line drawn by the dominant culture, those caught on the northern side are involuntary citizens of the United States. As such, they have been forced to accept English as their language and have had European values imposed upon them.  Mexican Americans are the  “ambivalent” minority because, as they assimilate into the dominant European culture of the United States, they oscillate between their native traditional customs and the more modern European ideas. 

            The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe is one such example. The story is of the Indian, Juan Diego who experiences a vision of the Mother of Christ. So that Juan Diego can prove his vision to the European priests, the Virgin imprints picture upon the Indian’s robe. The picture is not the portrayal of the European Virgin shown in modern works of art of that era, but instead the Virgin appears looking like an Indian, in a blending of the native and European cultures.

            In Mexican American literature, one sees repeated examples of an ambivalent culture, mixing the traditional superstitions with the conventions of Christianity. In Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima, there is a constant struggle between the two.  Ultima is a traditional healer—a witch perhaps, but she is the one character able to protect her people from an evil force that seems to exist.  The main character, Antonio, is a young boy trying to be a good Catholic—a member of the European-imposed religion. One story line is of his struggle to reconcile the ability of the traditional healer to bring about relief from this evil force and the seeming impotence of God to relieve the suffering, for example, of his friend Florence.

Further examples of this ambivalence can be found in Sandra Cisnero’s story, The House on Mango Street. One again sees Mexican Americans superimposing Christianity on traditional superstitions.  The most obvious example of this syncretism is in the chapter about Elenita, the fortune teller. Struggling for space on her refrigerator is a Palm Sunday cross, a plaster depiction of a saint and a voodoo hand. Elenita tells fortunes, sending her customers away with allusions to the alignment of the stars and the blessing of the Virgin Mother.

Through literature and story, one sees the dilemma of the Mexican American volunteering to try for the American Dream while retaining the identity born of the land the Europeans claim. The mixture—the syncretism of  native and European religion are just one example of this ambivalence. [GS]

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2.         The Mexican American identity is not as easily classified as minority as the NA culture. The confusion over whether MA came to America for a better life, in search of the American dream, or if they involuntarily participate in our culture because, after all, they were here (Texas) first, clouds the issue.

There are several areas of MA culture that invite ambivalent feelings. These include, but are not limited to, the relationship between religion and mysticism, the English and Spanish languages, and the balance between traditional and modern cultures.

In the “Virgin of Guadalupe,” Juan Diego must decide between risking the life of his uncle by obeying an apparition or angering the Mother of God to save his uncle’s life. The allegiance he feels for his uncle is an example of a traditional culture’s respect for their elders. The apparition is an example of a mystical experience that defied his religious training up to that point in his life. It is the apparent authenticity of the apparition and its acceptance by the Bishop that validates the commingling of mystical and religious beliefs.

While Juan Diego’s story hints at the issues between mysticism and religion, Bless Me Ultima attacks the issue with full force. The plot of the story hinges on Tony’s conflict in trying to reconcile his religious convictions. On the one hand, he worships and wants to please the only God that can answer prayers, heal the sick, and/or perform miracles. This is what his Catholic religion has taught him. On the other hand, the “miracles” he sees being performed are not by God, but by Ultima, a self-proclaimed curandera and a suspected “bruja.” The Catholic influences in the story include priests, rituals such as confession and communion, and the belief in one God. These influences are challenged by Ultima’s ability to perform miracles using herbs and roots, voodoo dolls, and the help of her own personal spirit owl. At the end of the story, Tony’s father tells him, ”every man is a part of his past . . .but he may reform the old materials and make something new” (247). It is this comment, from his respected father, that allows Tony to consider the making of a “new religion” (247).  This single paragraph containing this quote confronts the issues of tradition vs. modern beliefs, the respect for an elder’s opinion, and the acceptance of a new identity for religion.

Sandra Cisneros’ House on Mango Street, shares the life of Esperanza, a young MA girl, as she grows up in a poor neighborhood. Esperanza’s dream is to leave Mango Street far behind and have her own home (again, a version of the American dream). Esperanza is torn between the loyalty she feels obligated to have to her family and their lifestyle and her own dreams of a more modern existence. She not only wants her own house, she rejects the notion of relying on a man for her happiness. However, by the end of the book, when she is a young woman, the importance of her heritage and the pull of her dreams converge. She realizes that even though she will leave Mango Street to become her own woman, she will return. Her ambivalent feeling is best seen in the statement, “I belong but do not belong…” (110). The story ends by saying she has to leave so she can return. She is unwilling to accept “either/or” when defining her cultures. She decides to create her own version of the two.

The poem “Speaking with Hands,” by Luis J. Rodriguez, addresses the difficulty MA experience when facing the language barrier between Spanish and English. The speaker of the poem is a child who is forced to witness his mother’s frustration and humiliation because she is unable to communicate with a store clerk in English. She speaks in “broken English/…with her hands…[fighting] the grocer/on prices & quality & dignity” (327). The implication in this poem is that the children will speak both Spanish and English, creating a new identity in the process.

MA culture is not categorically minority because it has too many variables. So much of their culture can be defined as traditional yet they live in modern times; they maintain traditional attitudes toward the older generation yet they permit themselves to live modern lives; and syncretism defines their religious practices. Each of these texts shows how MA culture thrives by taking ambiguity and turning it into identity. [TStJ]