Proofs and a little bit of Growing Up Game
After reading the three essays’ I have to say that I liked Proofs and growing up game a more then I liked Cyclops. Cyclops was also a great essay but I just like the issues that Proofs and Growing up game addressed more. I loved the opening lines in Proofs “You are wearing two shirts, two pants, two underpants. That’s just such a great way to express living between two different cultures. And the images from Proofs of the families and men constantly running across the border to or from America trying to belong to both was really great too. “Mexico was not the past, People went back and forth”. I also liked the way the author’s of both text showed the idea of allegiance and belonging more to both cultures but having a tie to one that was more significant then the other. In Proof the line “The city will win the city will give the children all the village could not-VCRs, hair styles drum beats. The city sings mean songs dirty songs. But the city will sing the children a great Protestant hymn. “You can be anything you want to be.” There’s just so much in that line that says things about having an allegiance and respect to America but at the same time laments the lose of Mexican tradition and thought. The same thing is true of the line “Why should it be that the purchase of meat at a butcher shop is somehow more righteous then eating something from the wild” from Growing up game. If the main character ever said they were perfectly happy eating game the “Civilized American side” would be in shock so they live hiding their culture and traditions and wondering why there culture isn’t just as acceptable
I also liked the line, “You can be anything you want to be.” I thought it basically summed up the entire work.
I agree with you on the depth that Proofs had within. I really enjoyed the writing style of Rodriguez and his way of switching from the present to the past. I really did not like Growing up Game because I just felt disconnected from her scenario. And all together I just didnt care about the moose dilema at hand. Cyclops had a lot going on but I liked the way he set up the image of the father, it was done in a very uinique sort of way.
I like your analysis of ‘Growing up game’. I think you’re right that she feels she has to hide what one could consider a part of her culture. Maybe it was the age of the narrator or the constant second guessing, but I think it really reflected a broader picture of what you were brought up on vs. society’s standards. I also wrote about the question she asks, and I agree with the conclusion or theory she presented.
I think you did an awesome job of connecting these two pieces. I didn’t even think of how similar they were until I read your post. Also, the line from “Proofs”, about wearing two sets of clothes, I did not think of it in terms of culture as you said, I think that is a really good analysis.