Cisneros Response
My favorite chapter in this book so far has to be Louie,
His Cousin & His Other Cousin. In this chapter, we meet Louie and his
family. We learn that Louie is friends with Esperanza’s brother and he is “the
oldest in a family of little sisters.” We learn that he has two cousins, one
named Marin, who sells Avon and lives with the family. His other cousin, we don’t
learn his name but Esperanza says “we only saw him once, but it was important.”
Louie’s cousin drove up to Louie’s house in a yellow
Cadillac. The kids all came out and were so amazed by all the features of the
Cadillac, that they asked for rides. As they were driving around they start to
hear police sirens that grew louder and louder as the second’s pass. Louie’s cousin
lets out all the kids and proceeds to floor the car in the direction away from
the sirens. With the police gaining on him Louie tries to make a left turn and
crashes into a lamppost. The last we see of Louie’s cousin is when Cisneros
writes “They put handcuffs on him and put him in the backseat of the cop car,
and we all wave as they drove away.”
This story stands out to me the most because it’s so
comical. It’s one of those stories that when you finish reading it, you say to
yourself “I could see that happening.” I believe, that the writing is at its
best when Louie’s cousin crashes the Cadillac into the lamppost. Cisneros
writes “Marin screamed and we ran down the block to where the cop car’s siren
spun a dizzy blue. The nose of that yellow Cadillac was all pleated like an
alligator’s.”
One theme that is important in this
story is, innocence. The children had no idea that the car was stolen. Even
though, there were signs that led them to this even before the cops came
closing in. They asked questions as to where he got the car to little or no
avail from Louie’s cousin. Cisneros takes it upon herself to point out that
they asked where he go the car twice in the same paragraph.
Story of a Local
Role Model
When I was a kid and even a little
past my teenage years I always looked up to my cousin, Paul. He and I were
raised as brothers. We were always together growing up which was important to
me since he is 2 years older than I am. He had a big shadow. I remember as a kid
trying to get his approval on everything I did. “Hey Paul, do you think this is
cool?”
We are both huge competitors and have always been
involved in sports. When we were on our high schools wrestling team we would
always try to motivate the other. I remember right after Thanksgiving dinner every year we
would always run for miles to make sure we weren’t “overweight” for our next
tournament.
Paul is a bit out there. He is very
much an extrovert. I see it as a blessing and curse because he wound up getting
us into bad situations when we were younger. On the other hand the stories we
have now are great.
When Paul joined the Army at 17, I wanted to follow him.
When he left for Iraq a few months before I would ship out. I was wishing I could
go with him. I remember him telling me about his fears about what was soon to
be his reality. A few months later by the grace of god we got to come home for
Christmas. I remember stepping off the plane and receiving a handshake and hug
from him and telling me that he was proud of me.
As we got older and started having
kids. We vowed to have our kids grow up the same way we did. As brothers.
I also have a strong relationship with my cousin and he influenced me greatly.
ReplyDeleteMan, if I wasn't sitting here in class right now in a place you could easily disprove me I'd say your story brought a tear to my eye. It is good to have such a lifelong friend.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin and I were raised the same way. To this day he is my best friend and I can always rely on him.
ReplyDelete