Tracey Mainer – Week 16

I’ve read The House on Mango Street in high school (years ago, I am not “fresh out”, lol). Right after the nostalgia and memories of simpler days, reading the stories as an adult gives new insight.

The vignette that  puzzled me to some degree was “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays.” I felt sorrow for Rafaela, I felt her longing to be outside. In honor of the live action Little Mermaid being released next week, wanting to be a part of that world, but locked up inside. To the point of the puzzling though, why IS she locked up? I understand the reasoning but what are the circumstances? Was this an arranged marriage and her husband possessive? Is he abusive? Was he suave and genteel to woo her and then changed? I mean, if he’s married to her, he did see her immense beauty from meeting; why is she locked up? There are so many unanswered questions that left me puzzled (and also intrigued but I had to use another vignette for that 🙂 ).

I was somewhat surprised by “No Speak English.” Initially, I felt Mamacita wanted to leave home. I also understood her apprehension with interacting with others, the world is cruel and perhaps would mock her inability to speak “perfect” English. And then I thought, after the description of having to shove and pull to get her out of the taxi, that she may have not been too keen to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs at her size. I was surprised at her grief of the baby learning English and her protest to not speak English. She was more than homesick, she did not want to be “white-washed” or lose her culture.

There were two vignettes I couldn’t decide between that intrigued me. The first was “Sire.” I felt very relatable to her in this piece. A girl, with a crush who just daydreamed about not being this “good girl” with morals. I was a shy girl throughout my teen-aged years and often was overlooked. Although timid, I would never give the impression that I was. I wanted to read more about her and how this played out. I was also intrigued by “Elenita, Cards, Palm and Water.” No specific reason, honestly, I just liked the short story. I wanted to dive deep and say I was intrigued by the need for hope, how people look for hope in any and everything, including tarot readings out the kitchen of an overwhelmed woman, but I truly just liked the story. There were too many small details that I couldn’t just select one to say “this is what intrigued me”.