CMLT277 Final Exam Review MAGICAL REALISM blurs imagined and reality suggesting that imagined or perceived should be seen as just as powerful and meaningful as tangible and real belief in imagined concept image as reality that can arrest you just like memory Nelson s definition A counter movement that was developed by a vast group of Latin American artists who saw the Latin American reality from another intentionally a vague term point of view and put reality under constant interrogation Novels Films Oscar Wao Oscar Wao does not possess qualities of typical Dominican man and he suffers is an outcast throughout his entire life because of this o Themes Masculinity Even at age 7 mother tells him to hit girl for respect Hope Mongoose and zafa History Cane fields Inhumanity of man to man faceless man comes around when fuku is present lives are in danger The Inhabited Woman Lavinia exemplifies the struggles that women have gone through in order to reach a point of equality with their male counterparts This struggle is shown to the reader through Lavinia s attempts to make conditions better for the lower class by joining the Movement and working against the Faguas government Throughout her time in the Movement Lavinia motivated by Itza s presence in her blood develops from a very timid girl into a strong woman that takes on tasks and responsibilities Would be read as a triumph for women if Itza s blood was not inside of Lavinia making her act in the ways that she did and if Felipe was not the gun that kept Lavinia safe Symbols o Felipe male dominance early in novel compatibility between the genders later in the novel Lavinia s gun her reliance on Felipe o Itza female power potential for women still objectifies women b c of her fulfillment of typical women tasks o Orange tree renewal of life woman centered text cycleF of recreation restoration of the past mixture of two cultures absorption of lessons learned from the past Sara attitudes that hold women back feels comfortable in her domestic realm is fine only being in charge of small things in the house o Like Water For Chocolate Tita is unable to marry Pedro because of the Mexican tradition that she as the youngest daughter must stay single and care for her mother until death Pedro marries Rosaura Tita s sister to stay as close as possible to her Dr John Brown cares for Roseaura s newborns and later Tita after a breakdown due to her mother s abuse He then wishes to marry Tita but says he will support her either way Eventually at the wedding of Esperanza and Dr Brown s daughter Pedro and Tita are reunited and make love in a romantic atmosphere Pedro dies after experiencing passionate sex and after that Tita eats matches one by one until she also bursts into flames and the lovers are consumed by fire like the story Dr Brown told about there being a book of matches inside of everyone and true love provides oxygen for the fire but warns that we must not light all the matches at once or we will return to where we came from when we were born The whole ranch burns except for Tita s cookbook Narrator turns out to be Esperanza s daughter o Themes Tears Tita s deep emotional connections sadness being deeply moved Tradition family legacy of the De la Garza s cooking keeping youngest child single Food Cooking food as a means of communication to convey Tita s emotions to others one dish passion for Pedro another dish longing sadness to wedding guests also convey family history kitchen is also sight of birth heritage and nourishment Tita s cookbook is all that survives passionate fire Short Stories Krik Krak Children of the Sea Man who is off at sea on a journey to Miami and a woman who is at home with her family trying to survive write each other in hopes of being reconnected The man writes of the horrors of leaving his homeland while the woman writes about the atrocities that she faces at sea Story of faith love Suffering especially between parent and child o Celianne has a stillborn daughter on the boat She throws herself and the child overboard o Madan Roger s son is killed and then she is killed by the Macoutes because of son s involvement with Youth Federation Shows the lack of freedom that the citizens were given Hope o Two young lovers are writing to one another in the hopes that they will one day be able to reunite They cannot be together now because the man is migrating to Miami to get away from the trouble in his native land People went to the air ports in hopes the old president will return Regardless of hope o o Colorful butterflies bring good news o Boat represents failed hope Using bathroom on boat reminds man of how people used to do it on slave ships o Hope as the biggest weapon Escape o Male lover and the other people on the boat are trying to get away from the oppressive government in their homeland in search for a better life o Accepting risk in search of a better life accepted the idea of dying Those staying in the island are much more prudent about the opportunity for change land provides much less opportunity for escape represents stagnancy Water symbolizes uncertainty constant change opportunity The risk of water vs the hope of water Water gives the people hope for what they can achieve in Miami Very risky basically leads to the boat s destruction Two nameless narrators are in love and write each other letters they will never read The female narrator is angry that her father opposes their love but she finds out he gave up all his possessions to protect her from the macoutes The male narrator also a member has fled Haiti In his boat is a pregnant teenager C lianne who was raped by a macoute Days after her baby dies she throws it and herself overboard The female narrator sees a black butterfly and knows the male narrator has died too o Symbols children babes innocence life hope for future butterfly news metamorphosis change fluids blood water tears semen sweat ink Nineteen Thirty Seven Narrated by Josephine whose mother is imprisoned as a witch Hours before Josephine s birth her mother swam across a blood filled river to Haiti from the Dominican Republic where Haitians were slaughtered including Josephine s grandmother When Josephine visits her increasingly frail mother she never says anything but she brings a Virgin Mary statue that her mother makes cry using wax and oil When Josephine s mother dies Jacqueline another ritual performer takes Josephine to see her body burned o Struggle girl having to watch her mom slowly decay