Smoke Signals

How do we forgive our fathers, maybe in a dream?

Do we forgive our fathers for leaving us to often, or forever, when we were little?

Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage, or making us nervous, because there never seemed to be any rage there at all. 

Do we forgive our fathers for marrying, or not marrying our mothers, for divorcing, or not divorcing our mothers? 

And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness? 

Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning, for shutting doors, for speaking through walls, or never speaking, or never being silent?

Do we forgive our fathers in our age or in theirs?

Or in their deaths, saying it to them, or not saying it?

If we forgive our fathers what is left?

 The movie “Smoke Signals” is a captivating film, filled with emotion and life lessons.  I enjoyed it because the film caught my attention early with the opening scene of the house fire.  As a result I became invested in the characters and the storyline, wondering what was going to happen next.  As the film progressed there was a layering of the storyline, like each scene uncovered clues that answered my questions.  The film was easy to follow along with and I liked the flashback scenes because they created flow.  The message in “Smoke Signals” is what made it a homerun for me.  The idea of the roadtrip and finding one sense of self and indemnity through journeying is something everyone can relate. 

Victor’s character is one I can relate too and he is the main reason why I enjoyed this film so much.  In some ways I saw my story and self in Victor’s journey and every now and again it is nice for me to remind myself of the lessons Victor learned.  As a young child my nuclear family was separated and I had no idea why.  My parents divorced when I was only four years old and a severed family is all I know.  Don’t get me wrong my parents have tried to make my life as “normal” as possible (what’s normal anyway?)  and are probably the best divorced couple out there but it still made and impact on me.  I tell people all the time no matter how wonderful of parents I had there are certain insecurities and demons that I have to face no matter what.  Like Victor I felt abandon, unloved, blamed myself, was angry, and felt misunderstood.  In dealing with all these emotions growing up I too like Victor had a hard time in my teen years in coming to terms with who I was.  In your teen years you start to ask question because you are grown enough to understand and put the pieces together in your head.  You start to search for answers.  In questioning and searching for answers you make yourself vulnerable.  This is both a positive and negative experience.   What I got from the movie was that we cannot control or change the past but we can make a better future for ourselves.  As children we cannot hold on to the baggage of our parents.  Those are their crosses to bear and we too will have our own as we become adults. Victor should not hold the guilt of his father setting the house on fire and I should not bare my parent’s broken marriage.  It is good to learn from our parents but not hold the weight of their mistakes or wrongdoings.  Victor is so invested in his father’s baggage and guilt about the fire that it prevents him from finding his true self.  Everything our parents do affects us but it is our decision as children to control how it is going to affects us.   

This notion can be applied to anything in life.  A great example of this in the movie is the symbol of fire that runs throughout the store.  At the opening on the film we see it as something destructive and negative.  The house is engulfed in wild flames and there is panic in the air.  It is a very chaotic and sad scene.  Towards the conclusion of the film fire takes on a very different impression.  In the burning of Arnolds' home it is a tranquil scene.  The fire is calm and used as a cleansing of the soul.  There are no flames but smoke that rises above the mountain tops.  It is symbolic of the releasing of Arnolds' tortured soul and the guilt he felt.  Fire can be freeing or terrifying its all about the perspective.  It burns in many colors because it holds a different meaning to everyone.  We have the choice to see fire as beautiful or destructive, in a positive or negative light, just like anything in life. 

Rita Dove: American Smooth

Rita Dove is a brilliant mind which was fostered from a young age.  She came from a family of intellectuals which rubbed off on her.  As a child she loved to read and her parents encouraged her passion.  Her love of literature inspired Dove to pick of a pen and start writing.  Over the years she has made an imprint on American literature as a poet and writer.  Dove has received numerous awards and recognition for her work.  She broke boundaries not only for African-American writers but also for women.  Rita Doves poetry is very widely ranged.  She speaks on everything from race and gender too political and history, and everything in between.  Her poems are loved so much because they are nonrestrictive and universal.  All readers are able to connect and relate to some aspect of her work.  Also her use of great detail and imagery aid the reader on an experience like no other. 

“American Smooth” by Dove is a collection of poems all relating to dance.  Rita has a passion for dance and started taking lesson with her husband after suffering a tragedy.  In this particular selection dance is used as a metaphor for life.  It is a representation of the American way.  The dancing is just a distraction or escape from the monotonous lives we lead and when the music stops we are brought back to the ground or reality. 

Before I dug deep into my close analysis of the poem I did a little research American Smooth to see what it was all about.  In my research I found that it is a style of dance that combines both Latin and Ballroom dancing.  It includes the Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz.  American Smooth is the American equivalent to European Ballroom or International Standard.  International Standard dancing uses steps and terminology used around the world making it universal.  It is the EXACT form of dancing and focuses on closed position.  Two dancers move as one at all times and do not disconnect.  American Smooth is not so much as exactness as focused on flowing movement which is more “American”.  Dancers are not always in close position.  They break away from one another for solo action.  In this case timing is everything as they move in unison separately.  

In this piece Rita pays tribute to the American identity.  The America way of life seems natural and fluid but to reach this elevates way of living it takes extreme precision and form.  We constantly need to be "always smiling, smiling", showing our best face to the world.  At some point if you smile enough you forget about everything and take "flight" until you are brought back to reality.  American Smooth is all about push through life with a sense of ease even though we all know life takes a lot of work.  What I get from Rita's poem is that we live our lives working for moments of flight and when we achieve them they are amazing but they can not last forever.  Once you get off your high and come back to reality it is time to start working towards something else.  Its an American Cycle of life.  We work hard, achieve, enjoy the moment, and begin working again.

Sandra Cisneros, "My Name"

Sandra Cisneros “My Name” is an excerpt from her novel The House on Mango Street, published in 1984.  This novel has received enormous amounts of recognition over the years and from reading just a small portion of it I can understand why.  The book put Cisneros on the map as one of the first Latina-American writers to achieve widespread commercial success.  It has sold over two million copies and was made a required read in many schools across the country.  Cisneros work illustrates the Latina experience in America. Her work deals with themes such as coming of age, alienation, self identity, and gender roles.  The most important aspect of her writing is that she gives a voice to Chicana women.  She does this by drawing on her own experiences growing up in a Mexican family in America. 

The title, “My Name”, by itself speaks volumes.  It got the wheels in my head spinning.  The first thing that popped into my head was that portion of any application or grade school worksheet where it reads “Name __________________” , and you fill in the blank.  It reminds me that in this world we have this urge to classify and label things.  That by giving a name to something we places owner and power.  When you fill in that blank that white sheet of 8x10 is no longer paper its Lindsey’s paper.  It becomes defined.  Taking on an entire new identity that is link to me, to whatever impression my name holds.  It is impossible to live in a world with no names or labels. There would be no language! But maybe there is a possibility to separate the name from a definition.  But then again my name Lindsey has a totally different meaning to me then to someone else who shares my name, so the definition of words especially names are never ending.  I find it interesting that Cisneros choose to class this selection “My Name” and not Esperanza (the characters name).  I mean if she did call it Esperanza the reader would still get that the piece as about this girl and her name.  What the title “My Name” gives us is that the narrator is unsettled with her name.  She has a hard time identifying with it and feels disconnected.  Another part of this work that exemplifies the disconnect is that the narrators actual name “Esperanza” is not mentioned until the end of the fourth stanza and there is only six in the entire piece.  This shows how she is uncomfortable in labeling herself.  She wants to be as far from her name as possible.

There are numerous metaphors and symbols that run through the entire selection.  In the first stanza the narrator describes her name.  In English which represents American it has a pleasant mean of “hope”.  Hope is a positive and desirable word.  In Spanish which represents her Mexican heritage her name has a negative interpretation of “too many letters”.  It is just letters not a word.  Letters are disjointed and come together to become harmonious words.  By labeling her name as letters to shows the disconnection the narrator has with her name in the context of her Mexican heritage.  This comparison between American and Mexican show the conflict between cultures.  This relates to Sandra Cisneros because she has expressed difficulty in identifying herself as American and Mexican.  There is a tug of war that goes on between the two.  She also calls herself the number nine which represents that she is just short of being perfect.  A ten is perfection and by labeling herself as a nine she expressed that she is flawed.  She also compares her name to her father’s Mexican record as “songs like sobbing”.  This expresses a sense of lose and creates an emotional divide between her father and her.  There is a generation gap which breeds frustration in the narrator.  She will never the lose her father has as an immigrant because she never will have firsthand experience.  All she has to go by is what she hears. 

In the next three stanzas the narrator tells the story of her great-grandmother which is who she inherited the name from.  Esperanza is afraid that inheriting the name she also inherits the fate her great-grandmother faced.  She does not want that!  The horse is introduced as symbol.  She makes refers to the Chinese calendar and says that women born in the year of the horse are unlucky.  The meaning of the year of the horse is happy, popularity, and intelligence.  A horse is a majestic and wild creature.  They represent power, strength, and freewill.  Mexican women are not supposed to be wild horses but tamed.  So if you are born a Mexican women in the year of the horse you are screwed because your culture is not accepting of what you are.  Women cannot be powerful that is the job of the men.  Sandra Cisneros relates to this notion because she grew up the only girl of seven children. In the Mexican culture women take care of the men.  They cook, clean, and take care of the house.  Cisneros did not want that for herself.  She wanted to be more and found a conflict in her cultures definition of what being a woman is all about.  They narrator saw more for herself like Cisneros than just hanging like a “fancy chandelier”.  The name Esperanza carries a sadness and fate that the narrator wants to run from.

In the next stanza the narrator compares her name to her sisters.  Even though Magdalena is worse than Esperanza her sisters gets a nickname and she doesn’t.  This expresses that Magdalena has option while Esperanza does not.  Her name is what it is while Magdalena has Nenny to fall back on and mold her name or self into whatever she wants.  Nicknames are normally used when two people are very close.  It’s a comfort thing.  The fact that Esperanza does not have a nickname expressed the discomfort she has with her name.  Because she is not close with her own name she is nickname-less.

The narrator expresses the need to “baptize” herself in the final stanza.  Baptize is used as a symbol here.  In baptism a child is welcomed into the church.  They are pure, untouched, and free from sin.  Esperanza wants to purify herself and start over with a new name.  She want to rename herself she it fits her like Zeze or X.  These sound like superhero names.  There is something powerful in having a name with one letter.  For sure it is much different then Esperanza previous nine letter name.  It is the one letter that kept her from being truly perfect before (9+1=10).  She is desperate to be individual or “one” of a kind.  She wants a name with no history so she can make her own.