Thursday, February 12, 2009
Por que?
I decided to do my blogpost on Diaz's masterpiece. Overall, I enjoyed reading the story, but there were various parts that caused me to lose a little interest. First off, I understand that Diaz was ethnically proud, but all the same, I do not think that the combination of English and Spanish kept the flow. When I read this short story, I was not near a computer or the Spanish dictionary that I normally carry with me when I initially read an unfamiliar short story, so I ended up feeling a little salty every time I read something Spanish and didn't know whether I just missed a significant detail. Next, I was a little confused about the details behind the Puerto Rican woman. I didn't understand why the father was having an affair and telling the children about it. These are children, or ninos, and the father decides to tell them about it? From my understanding of reality, I don't think that children are capable of holding onto a secret like that. It's just unrealistic that a father would tell two children about the affair he is having and not run a high risk of the mother finding out. It is
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I agree-- the switch between Spanish and English was confusing to me too. I also didn't understand why the father was telling the children about his affair. Normally, it would be kept quiet. Maybe this has to do with their culture or something? Oh, and I don't think you finished, since you stopped mid-sentence ha...
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that I stopped mid-sentence. I don't know why the second half didn't post. That was easily the best part of my blog post too.
ReplyDeleteI disagree... I think you could understand the meaning of the story even if you don't speak Spanish. I think it just kept things more realistic.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree as well. I think the Spanish actually adds a lot to the story and it helps you identify more with the character and their culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the switch between Spanish and English, but I do not know if I agree with the father telling his kids about the affair. I mean I myself would never tell my kids that i was having an affair, then again I would never have an affair in the first place. Anyway, I used to have a Mexican American friend who used to tell me all sorts of things that his parents told him. I asked if it was normal for the parents to tell him things that most people would not tell their kids and he said yea. Which makes believe that it might have to do with something culturally. Or maybe he just has bad parents?
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think about the fact that he was telling his children and that was weird.. I remember thinking that it was sad when he took his son and made him watch TV while they "went upstairs" for an hour. It is weird though that neither of the children told their mother.
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