Reflections on Readings

 “RETURN”

“I went over to the sugarcane juice seller and immediately ordered a glass of fresh-squeezed. I fervently took a sip, the first in twenty years. Its taste, its fragrance took me back in time, to that distant day when I left Phnom-Penh. …”  This quote is filled with memories – the past, the present, and the future. What is a part of your past, will always be part of your present, and your future. If you don’t deal with your past; it will find a way to sneak into your present and will become your future. This story showed me the importance of remembering the past, preserving the present, and looking forward to the future. Such themes – past, present, and future, have been discussed in class; in terms of the position of Italy. Italy is definitely filled with monuments that help people remember the past and become part of their present. However, Italy is also not looking forward to the future. Instead, Italy shows its back to the future and its face to the past. Current issues of immigration, education, and work are topics that have been discussed in class.

 “Give me Back My Coat”

“A big shot, one of those accustomed to spending money,” you said. But then, before leaving, damn coward that you are, you had taken my coat and from the coat rack and you had gotten into your car. I have never been able to make sense of this act. I had offered you my glass of wine, I had given you my friendship, we had even toasted together to my saddest day. Did you want to see me even more in the dumps? What were you waiting for? Did you want to see me even more in the dumps? What were you waiting for? Did I have to die in order to satisfy you?“  This demonstrates a crucial moment in which the main character went through – causing him to change from being obsessed with committing suicide to being obsessed with obtain his coat back.  He is struggling to continue with life. I cannot connect so much with this character; nor do I understand where he may be coming from to desire to take his life. I can only come to the conclusion that he is at odds with life because of the life he currently lives in now. If I place myself in his shoes, I wouldn’t know what to do if I were to be fired and out of work. Economic distress and no hope for another job is pretty scary. Being jobless with no glimpse of chance in front of the road is like being in a slow and painful death.  The events that this character goes through can reflect the difficulties of current Italian population. As we learned in class, jobs are readily available and there is little to no future with education – so what is left to do? Find an excuse to continue living – even if it is as silly as getting a coat back. The desire to live is very powerful; but the will to not want to live is dangerous.

 “Light Beers and Peanuts”

“One thing which I was never able to get use to was being continuously stare at/. Since I had a very typical Indian appearance, I thought that I could have just melted into the crowd and so I dedicated myself ot an intense introspection in order to understand the reasons why people stared at me with such insistence. Right when I was beginning to have a clearer perception about my identity, it dawned on me: obviously I was a creature who caused stupor and embarrassment, and enigmatic confusion between the Orient and the Occident. I had some Indian characteristics and my behavior was typically foreign; I was Indian but at the same time I wasn’t. I was foreign but not entirely. I had no choice but to learn to live with those curious glances or to mitigate my occidental characteristics: I opted for the first solution because I didn’t want to give up being myself.” This exemplifies the struggles that immigrants go through in attempting to define their identity. Being bi-cultural and being raced with both the occidental and oriental notions make it a bit harder to self-identify. I, myself, can say that I am neither Mexican nor American; but a combination of the two. I cannot fit into one or the other box. I believe that in this quote she is demonstrating her frustration and anger in attempting to “fit” in box that others place her in. Instead she should be molding her own box, formulating, defining and re-defining her identity. I believe that she is attempting to be herself; even though it means being starred at and treated differently. In class, we have that immigrants go through many struggles when they move to another country. How hard it is to find a job. To be treated well.  To get permiso de soggiorno? However, we barely touched upon issues of identity and the internal struggles that many immigrants must go through in order to keep rolling with the punches. It’s like a fist in the face; that knocks one out of place. That is being visible- a target and being treated differently because of it.

“The B-Line”

“Far from the forest, the lion cannot roar like it used to. The words I left behind were long arms with which I could touch the horizon.” I interpret this line to mean that when attempting to immerse oneself in another culture – many words, feelings, actions get lost in translation. With that I mean that even if there is a translation for a word – it will never hold the same weight in meaning. It will always lack that something that your mother culture has provided you with. I believe that when one attempts to immerse oneself in another culture; we end up compromising. Inevitably, whether we want it or not, we will soon begin to leave some of our mother culture behind. We will find a way to preserve it; but it will never be the same. Ones thoughts, person and identity will always be colored differently. I believe that this shows the instances that many immigrants must go through to adapt to another culture, as we have discussed in class.

“THE BEGGAR”

 “Little by little, the box was filled with other gifts: SOUL (very nine-teenth century!) DREAMS (he had had his fill!), RAGE (it was not poetic!), MOON (too explored), MOTHER (what else could you say about her?), HOPE (was eternal?), DEATH (it would end up in the refrigerator!), SPRING (again?).” I feel that these words describe a bit, a piece of a person that has been lost or that he/she is attempting to search for. He begins with the soul and dreams and ends with hope, death, and spring. To me this demonstrates a unique way of capturing the events of life – of a person. And the rebirth that come with it. Or maybe, this exemplifies confusion. The character is in search for a word that he himself does not possess – and neither do others. He is unsatisfied with what people’s offerings. A way one can connect this is with dual or multi-cultural individuals. Confusion in attempting to define their identity is present.