Reader: Michelle Glenn
Respondent: Rachel Matthews
Recorder: Pam Buhler
02-08-01

Martin Espada, "Coca- Cola and Coco Frio"

(Unsettling America, p. 124)

Biographical Information: Espada, a Puerto Rican, was born in Brooklyn,

New York, in 1957. He is the winner of a PEN/Revson Fellowship and a Pattern

Poetry Prize. He has also been awarded two fellowships for the National Endowment for the Arts and a Massachusetts Artists’ Fellowship. Espada has four collections of poetry, one prose collection, and is regarded as one of the leading poets of Puerto Rican heritage in the United States. He lives with his wife and son in Massachusetts and is an associate Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He has also been a tenant lawyer, a factory worker, and a desk clerk working the night shift at a transient hotel. About his poetry: Espada "writes socially aware poetry which from the outset has marked his identification with the Spanish speaking migrant in America."

Objectives:

Literary: 1B (To criticize/celebrate immigrant literature),

2B (settings? homeland? journey?)

Cultural: 2A (family, Old World, New World), 2F (what do immigrants see about America that we can’t?), 6B (immigrant shock and adaptation to American economic needs), 6D (To acknowledge the difficulty of stabilizing an American society founded on the act of revolution)

My Interpretation: First of all, the title makes for an interesting comparison, considering that the two are both drinks with four letters in each word. Beyond this, one of the most important qualities of the poem is the use of word choice by Espada. For example, "family folklore" is not only alliteration, but it has much to do with the Old] World concept. In this instance, it is important to remember that folklore is the traditional beliefs, legends, etc. of a culture. Other specific word choice is fascinating such as the word "wandered." This is important because the poem seems to be rooted in the fact that the boy is letting his mind wander between the two cultures to decide which he will belong to. Furthermore, the distinction of the "fat boy" rather than just the "boy" seems to stem from the definition of fat in the sense that it is the richest part of something. Here, the "fat boy" is the richest part of their culture.

With the mentioning of the "great-aunt," the reader is brought back into the extended family of the Old World. However, the feeling of the Old World is complicated by the fact that they are drinking Coca-Cola, a trademark of the United States. Not only does this show the commercialism of the United States, but it also enforces the assimilation with the American culture. The Coca-Cola also serves as a "potion," possibly brainwashing them, but certainly changing them. The boy, however, longs for something different as he says he is bored with the familiarity. The theme of the first stanza seems to be assimilation, while the theme of the second stanza seems to be resistance. The coconut metaphor is also very interesting, considering that a coconut usually has a brown husk, which reminded me of their skin color. When inhaling the Coco Frio, the boy inhales the culture of the island, and he likes it.

Of course, this is the turning point of the poem (Suddenly. . .). The phrase "for years afterward" shows the impact of the boy’s revelation, that each of these cultures is special. In the last stanza, it is clear that the boy has found his "self" and that he wonders how the others could just pass the specialty of their culture up everyday. Though it might seem odd at first, a child could probably have a revelation like this because children are innocent and can sometimes understand what we, as adults, can not. The poem is probably written in free verse to coincide with the freedom the boy finds in his "self." Finally, "Frio" in Spanish means cold, possibly alluding to another meaning of the poem, that this boy is telling the cold-hearted truth.

Discussion: Cleo spoke of the importance of Coca-Cola in the poem, meaning that Coca-Cola is one of the major products associated with the United States. I pointed out that in America, there is no Pepsi or Root Beer specification, the question is simply....would you like a Coke? Cleo also shed some light on the imagery at the end of the poem. Her perspective was that the word "unsuckled" in the poem is metaphorically related to the idea of a Mother’s breast milk. Hue believed that the poem was about nostalgia for the Old Country. Kellie contributed to the discussion by elaborating on the "potion" aspect of the poem, saying that they were definitely changed by it. The boy's experience can be compared to the experience of Yolanda with the guavas in How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. Dr. White closed the discussion with an extension of Cleo’s idea and the Mother’s milk. He introduced the concept of the Mother Country for the interpretation of the last few lines.

Rachel's interpretation as respondent:  With a biographical tone, Espada relates the experiences of a young boy's rediscovery of the Old World, "the island of his family folklore" through the verses of the poem Coco-Cola and Coco Frio.  The young boy is openmouthed with perhaps amazement, wonder, or disbelief as he wanders about trying to make sense, of what he sees and experiences, of this land he has heard so much about, over the years.  The family members, he meets, seem to be quite taken by the very "potion" he had become "bored" with.

Espada uses Coca-Cola as a symbol for America in the poem.  It appears that for one who comes from America, the dream has become faded because the boy seems disenchanted with the prospects of drinking the same "potion" he is used to in Brooklyn.  Obviously times have gone by and the drink has lost its flavor and become flat!  Nevertheless, the 'old familia' he visits seem to be still stuck in the by gone days of World War II, which brought on the troops to Puerto Rican shores.  With the influx of the forces also, apparently, came the long arm of American commercialism and the old Coca-Cola jingles.  America has moved on, but the island still seems lulled under the influence of this fascinating brew.

The boy, nonetheless, finds out that the island has more to offer than the Coca-Cola everybody forces on him.  He experiences the refreshing, thirst quenching quality of a chilled "Coco Frio" that is the very opposite to a bottled, carbonated drink.  The idea of a man-made item is sharply contrasted with the quality of a natural product.  It appears as though he has inhaled the antidote to wipe away the affects of the potion he had drunk up until now.  The boy awakens to his true identity as he realizes that Puerto Rico was not America, and that neither was he totally American.

It is with this new identity he leaves, carrying with him the image of a motherland, which seems well able to nurture its children.  The image of the coconut trees "[sagging] heavy with milk, swollen and unsuckled" further establishes the idea of the errant children who have been wooed away by the promise of yet another American dream.  The islanders appear oblivious to what they have, and try to aspire to an Americanized way of life disregarding the wealth of their native land's resources.    

Sources-

Twentieth-Century Poetry by Ian Hamilton