Keyona Davis- What's Culturally Appropriate

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            My overall reaction to reading Caramelo was that it was not a book that I would have chosen to read if I didn’t have to. I know they say that you should not judge a book by its cover, but with this book I did a little bit and was actually correct with my judgment. For me it is a book that starts off too slow. I don’t mind having a little prep and background before you get to the juicy part of the story, but for me I didn’t care for the way the story was set up. It took me a little minute to realize what was about to happen in part two, and how the narrator was beginning to change. I like that the book focused so much on the culture of Mexicans, and feels as though the author did a good job at getting her point across about what she wanted readers to get from the story.

            One of the problems that I had while reading was reading about the different characters like the aunts and uncles stories, and keeping up with all their names and what levels of importance they played in the story. I will say that I like the shift of how Celaya starts off young telling her story and then grows to adolescence as we read. One personal connection that I can make to this story is the way that Sandra makes the part in the book on pages 85-86 seem as though it is culturally something that they believe is ok. When Zoila gets mad at Inocencio, she throws this huge fit while out in public and allows everyone to get into her family business and see how crazy she really is. Then we also see that the Awful Grandmother is not a fan of Zoila and insists on boosting this chaotic situation by telling Inocencio, “You’re better off without her kind” (pg.85). This part of the story proves that Sandra wanted to show how crazy Mexican women could really be. I have actually witnessed a similar situation like this, but by an African American woman. In my opinion I just think only a situation like this would occur if you were raised in a culture where it’s ok to act crazy when something happens that you don’t like, versus keeping the issue quiet until you’re in a private place to talk. 

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 28, 2016 at 12:45 AM

    I completely agree with you. This novel was not my favorite whatsoever, it seemed to drag despite the chapters being short. Ceylaya getting older is an aspect I like as well because we see how much she's grown personality wise from the little girl crossing over the border to visit her awful grandmother to the young adult dangerously in love.

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  2. StephanieDawkinsSeptember 28, 2016 at 7:09 AM

    I completely agree, it was not an easy read and I do feel the Cisnero's developed some characters more than she did others. I also like the fact that you included the comparison to African American women acting crazy. I am all for talking the issue out privately and I feel that by Cisnero's placing the argument in a public setting made the text more realistic and relatable as this kind of thing does happen.

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