The Motorcycle Diaries

Throughout high school, I had the privilege of watching "The Motorcycle Diaries" twice in two different Spanish classes. When I saw on the course calendar that we would be watching this movie in class I was very excited! I genuinely enjoyed this movie in high school, and still enjoyed it today in college. I think what I enjoy most about this movie is that it is a true story. What I find even more interesting is the fact that the main character, "Ernesto" (or Che), became a radical and the right hand man of Fidel Castro. The movie shows his earlier days as a gentle and kind young man with a bright future. However, he grows to become a violent man who is dangerous to the public. Not everyone would agree with that statement because many people look to him as a hero. In my eyes, I think that he became a very different and bad person from what he was. With this mindset, whenever I watch "The Motorcycle Diaries", my mind is boggled as to how he changed so much. It is hard for me to comprehend how he was (or how he was portrayed in the movie) to what he became. Although the story of his life is tragic, it is one that is worth knowing about.

"The Namesake" but Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Namesake" tells the story of a boy's life and his struggle with his name and Bengali culture. "The Namesake" is also the story of a mother and her struggle with adapting to American culture. Although in class there was some disagreement over whether the story was about just Gogol or Ashima or both, I believe that the story is about both. Gogol and Ashima are very different characters going through very similar things. "The Namesake" contrasts between both characters' struggle with their culture. Gogol, who is American born, struggles to accept and be proud of his Bengali heritage. He is ashamed and embarrassed by it. He is most of all ashamed of his name. Ashima, however, is Indian born and has a very hard time adapting to American culture. I do not think that she every fully accepts American culture for what it is. She is constantly ashamed of how her children act (even though she loves them very much). Ashima does not like that Americans are less family oriented. Gogol does not like the fact that Bengali's are so extremely family oriented. However, we see both characters go through significant changes, especially when Ashoke passes away. This is the point when Gogol realizes that he must embrace his Bengali roots, even if it is just in memory of his father. For Ashima, this is when she truly accepts her children for who they are and realizes that she can be okay on her own. I think that "The Namesake" sends a powerful message that you should always be accepting, no matter how hard it might be.

"Yellow Woman" by Leslie Marmon Silko

"Yellow Woman" is the story of a woman who has run off with a tribesman. We come into the story seeing a woman who is having a love affair with a man. Throughout the story, the woman talks and thinks as if she has been kidnapped; however, it seems as though she wants to be there. We learn that the woman has a husband, mother, and kids at home, and that's when it clicks: she is using the "kidnapping" story as her way of not feeling guilty for running off with another man. We then here the story of the mythical "Yellow Woman". She believes that she is this mythical character in order to further justify what she is doing. I do not believe that she is the yellow woman because she does not show the characteristics of her. I think that she is being cowardly and using the whole "yellow woman" story has her excuse and way to get out of feeling guilty. In the end, when she basically has no other choice but to go back home, he family is going along as if she was never there. I think that this signifies that she was never a great mother to begin with, and that this affair with the Navajo was her chance to get away.

"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

In this story, we are immediately introduced to a seaside land with a dying child and the man with enormous wings. As the story goes on, Pelayo and Elisenda (husband and wife) keep the "angel" and use him as a way of making money. Once he is no longer good for that, they become tired of him and see him as a bother. When the "angel" finally flies away, Elisenda is overcome with joy and relief. I believe that this story is trying to show how being selfish can only get you so far. It shows the audience how people can be so overcome by greed that they lose who they truly are to begin with. The couple grows so annoyed with the man that made them rich that they describe it as "living in a hell full of angels." When the angel begins to fly away, Elisenda "kept on watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an annoyance in her life but an imaginary dot on the horizon of the sea." That ending quote shows that people can truly be very selfish and ungrateful. I think the moral of the story is to appreciate what you have and to never overcome yourself with greed.

"The Guest" by Albert Camus

Throughout reading this story, I never knew what was going to happen. I kept thinking that the Arab would either kill Daru or run away. I think Camus wrote the story intending to keep the reader a little on edge. When Camus describes the Arab, we think of a horrific man who murdered someone else very senselessly; immediately we think that this prisoner is going to be a violent man. However, as the story progresses we see that this man is anything but violent, and even likable. When Daru thinks that the Arab is escaping, he is filled with joy; but, the Arab comes back showing his true character. "He didn't know what it was until the Araba again stood framed in the doorway, closed the door carefully, and come back to bed without a sound," (2580). The fact that this man was about to be killed or held in prison for his crime and didn't even try to run away says a lot about the person he is. This was the turning point for me where I shifted my opinion of the Arab. I went from thinking he was a horrendous person to a somewhat gentle man. At the end of the story when we see the Arab take the path to prison, that is when we truly know that he is an honest and good man, despite having committed a murder.