"Aria" and "...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him" Comparison

Both "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez and "...And the Earth Did Not Devour Him" by Tomas Rivera narrates a story about Mexican-American life in a gringo (non-Spanish people) society. However, while both stories have the same theme, they have two very different ways of going about the story. In "Aria," the readers see the narrator and his family slowly changing themselves and their lifestyles, trying to adapt to gringo society (and overall trying to become more accepted as "Americans"). On the other hand in “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” the story follows a Mexican-American family fighting against gringo society and trying to maintain their traditional Mexican cultures.

There are many reasons why this distinction occurs.  First, there is the timeline to consider. In “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” the span of the entire story does not go ever one year. This is hinted at in the last chapter of the story, where the little boy recounts all the happenings of the past year in quick notations. Every chapter of this story could represent a “month” and an outstanding event that took place during it. However, in “Aria,” the story spans over multiple years, transitioning from childhood to teenage years, and even going into partial adulthood. The readers understand that months and years go by from the diction the narrator uses. Also, with passing years, comes a changing perspective and growing maturity and the narrator, Rodriguez, slowly integrates into gringo society. Because “Aria” continues for a much longer time than “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” the narrator of “Aria” has time to develop and change—as both the little boy from “…And the Earth…” and Rodriguez from “Aria” had similar mindsets (traditionally cultured) when they were of the same age.

Another reason for the different reactions to gringo society could be the respective families’ location. While the little boy from “…And the Earth…” and his family lived working on farms and in very small crowded locations (the typical and expected poor working conditions for the Mexican farming community), Rodriguez and his family are (seemingly) upper-middle class folk and like in an all-white community. The difference between their wealth, location, and neighborhood-interaction all changes the path that both narrators are most likely to take. In “…And the Earth…,” the little boy is surrounded by Mexican workers, unable to afford proper schooling, bullied upon, discriminated upon, and overall in poor living conditions. The only thing he has to himself is his culture and his family. It is predictable under these conditions that that boy to continue keeping his culture close and relying fully upon it as part of his identity. On the other hand, Rodriguez from “Aria” lives in an upper-middle class society, attends school with white children, is targeted for his Spanish background, and pressured to speaking more English and fully integrating himself into the gringo society. As he repetitively states in the story, Spanish becomes his “second-language.” As he integrates more into a white, American life, he pushes (and eventually forgets) about his Mexican one.

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As a first-generation Asian-American, I have also been through the difficulties Rodriguez went through in “Aria.” And I too transformed the way he did when he was integrating into the American lifestyle. I filtered out my Korean and adopted English, my relatives weren’t happy but I hadn’t cared. This situation of having to choose one culture over the other is damaging to the child that has to choose. To have to choose from family and tradition or friends and society is difficult and hard to differentiate.

Is it possible that two cultures can merge? And by merge I don’t mean taking a few rules and traditional traits from each culture. Does the story from “Aria” have to relate to real life and make a decision for all second-language students and children? Are different cultures truly so incompatible that one must be inferior to the other?

Woman Hollering Creek

"Everything about this woman, this Felice, amazed Cleofilas. The fact that she drove a pickup. A pickup, mind you, but when Cleofilas asked if it was her husband's, she said she didn't have a husband. The pickup was hers. She herself had chosen it. She herself was paying for it."

   In 1991, Sandra Cisneros published her prose, "Woman Hollering Creek." The short story is about a woman, Cleofilas, finding freedom and escaping male oppression and rule. The passage above is taken near the end of this prose, where Cleofilas is about to board a bus that will take her back to Mexico, where she has decided to become independent and free from the constant controlling men in her life. 

   The passage is written in third person, or a omniscient narrative. The meeting between Cleofilas and Felice could be a foreshadow of how Cleofilas will later become in Mexico, raising her children. It also shows a type of resolution to the prose, by introducing a foil character that is already independent that will inspire the protagonist into acting for what she will now believe in. The independence comes from Felice's lack of husband, or general authoritative male oppressor, and her own mode of transportation (and her ability to pay for it). 

   The pickup that Felice owns, and that Cleofilas repetitively refers too, symbolizes Cleofilas' ability to escape from her situation. The pickup could point to both literal and symbolic gestures toward the meaning of escaping. Literally, the pickup allows Cleofilas to flee from being trapped within the city and moving as she wills. Symbolically, Cleofilas can finally become free from the male oppression that has been ruling over her life. Also, the diction the speaker chooses to use is important as well. The fact that Felice has a “pickup” and not just a regular car or a bike or any other transportation device is nudging the expression that it “picks up” Cleofilas and her weighed down body. A pickup carries material over long distances, which is where Cleofilas wishes to go. 

   Throughout the prose, Cleofilas describes the males that have control over her life and actions. The descriptions begin to change over time from gentle and kind to harsh and depressed. Cleofilas begins to realize that she can't stand the male tyranny in her life and that's why she decides to leave back to Mexico. The mood drastically changes after she realizes this. The depressed atmosphere twists into a more curious and confused mood and then, when she meets Felice, into captivated and anticipatory. 

   Previously in the story, the speaker's sentence structures were very long and drawn out. This gave the overall prose a very tired and suffocated feeling to it. Near the end of the story, there were more shorter and concise sentences that made the atmosphere of the short story very free and liberating, airy and full of bounce, like when someone talks while jumping up and down. 

   Overall, the prose stood out significantly as a story about a woman's liberation. I appreciate the short sentences in the passage because of how it helps with the liberating feeling of the entire prose. The feeling and thought that this passage gives helps us develop more thought about the equality that I live with in America and how it effects me.

>Felice helps solidify the idea of becoming independent to Cleofilas. However, my question is what if Cleofilas hadn't met Felice. Would she forever wonder about the independence that she is seemingly reaching for? Is independence something that comes naturally to every human being? Is it something that must be earned or found or searched for?