Frances Bowles - The beauty of Caramelo

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Caramelo is the first novel that I've read that includes cultural shock, generational differences, discrimination towards immigrants and so on. Because of this, I think the novel is informative in the sense of what it means to be culturally diverse. One of my favorite passages is when Lala describes what she sees as soon as she crosses over the border; she says, "everything switches to another language...colors brighter...children walking to school ...churches the color of flan," etc (17-18). Whenever they visit it seems as if it's a new experience; although nothing about the country has changed. Yet, because Lala's family lives in America and spends every year in Mexico her "mind forgets. But [her] body always remebers" (18).
I think what makes the story beautiful is Cisnero's use of Spanish and English which also highlights her being bilingual. It's not very common to include two different languages in a novel; however, it symbolizes that regardless of the language the text is written in, it still translates the same and those who speak these languages are no different as well. One question that I had was whether or not the Hispanic culture believes that if family members share the same name or personality will they live the same life? I can relate to this because, I'm named after my grandmother and although she passed before I was born, one similarity that we've shared is the dislike of our name; two different generations with the same likes and dislikes while Lala and her grandmother share the same personality, maybe it's possible.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 26, 2016 at 5:33 PM

    Wow! Now that I think about it I think that Caramelo is also my first book that I've read that brings about such strong cultural issues as well. I think your favorite passage is also painted a good picture for people who travel a lot. For me, when me and my family used to go to Orlando almost every summer, I would still get excited for all the changes I would see while looking out the window, so I knew exactly how Lala felt. I also like in integration of Spanish into the text because in some situations it added emphasis to what the characters were saying.

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  2. Lucy McElroySeptember 27, 2016 at 10:10 AM

    I agree with you that Caramelo is a good indicator of culture in Mexican-American families. I think that adolescent readers with Mexican heritage can read this and be able to identify with Celaya, or at least one of her family members. How ironic is it that you and your grandmother both disliked your names?! I definitely think that Celaya and Soledad follow similar paths. Soledad seemed to have adopted relatively the same role as Regina, and Celaya seems to be following the same path. I wonder if knowing her grandmother's story allowed Celaya to avoid the same mistakes that Soledad made, or if it's predetermined and she can't change fate. Interesting concepts!

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