My Favorite Text

This semester has not only offered me an insight into the Latin American culture, but an in depth perspective to a person’s character and nature. My favorite text that we talked about this semester was Ines of My Soul.  This book helped me gain a better understanding of the conquest of Latin America.  It described the conflicts between the Spaniards and the native Indians, the way the Spaniards treated women and slaves and the spiritual views of the Spaniards.  I found it very interesting how their motivation for exploration was based on obtaining gold, their past time was used to drink and have their way with women, and their tactics to get the Indians to build their towns.  This might sound harsh, but that is what I saw on the surface of the text regarding this culture.

It made for an interesting novel, but what fascinated me most about the novel was the main character of the novel, Ines.  I grew to appreciate her as a strong, independent woman.  At the beginning of the story, her free-spirit caused her to be condemned to a life at home without a husband, however, we find that her free-spirit and independence does not allow her to settle for this and she goes in search of finding her husband.  In actuality, we find that she used that as an excuse to find freedom and adventure for herself.  I appreciate her willingness to not give up when they were in the desert and about to die of thirst.  Her resourcefulness saved them.  I also appreciate her willingness to sacrifice herself for the sake of those around her when it comes to fighting for her people.

The main reason why I enjoyed this text is because I felt a connection to this woman and could relate to some of the same character traits that she possessed.  It was inspiring and educational.

Sacrifice and Love

Under the Same Moon

The movie, Under the Same Moon, is about a nine year old boy, Carlito, living in Mexico with his Grandmother, while his mother has been in Los Angeles for the last four years trying to become a US citizen and earn enough money to make a life for her and her son.  As the movie progresses, the Grandmother dies and the son decides to travel to find his mother.  The story is about his adventures along the way to get to his mother.

My favorite part of the movie is when Carlito is on the bus with Enrique, his traveling buddy, heading to Los Angeles and Enrique explains to Carlito that his mother still loves him and that is why she has been in Los Angeles for the last four years.  He explains that people do hard things for certain reasons and Carlito is that reason for her.

Why is Carlito that reason for her?  It is referring to that undying love that one person has for another.  In this case, the love of a mother for her son.  That is the reason why we sacrifice for others.  It is a matter of loving someone else more than we love ourselves.

In class, I liked how Dr. Mack explained that with attachment seeking behavior it is a way for someone to feel safe.  Once that person feels secure in that attachment to you, then that love grows and it no longer becomes about loving ourselves but a love for someone else, which makes it easier to sacrifice, like Carlito’s mother did.

However, I also see the connection of sacrifice and love for others with Enrique and Carlito as well.  Through the movie, Enrique only cared about his own survival.  His love was focused on himself and not others.  As the attachment and love grew between Enrique and Carlito, when it came time at a vital point in the movie, Enrique did not question the need to sacrifice his own freedom in exchange for Carlito’s freedom from the police officers. 

When we love others more than ourselves, we are more willing to make sacrifices for others.

Experience

“Ultima said to take life’s experiences and build strength from them, not weakness.” 

(Rudolfo Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima, 261)

Bless Me, Ultima is about a young boys journey through his childhood to manhood.  He has several questions about life and through his experience and guidance by an old family friend, Ultima, he is able to find the knowledge that he needs to guide his future path.

At the end of the book, Antonio, the young boy, shares what he has learned from Ultima and I especially like this quote about taking life’s experiences and building strength from them, not weakness.  Even though Antonio has seen much in his young life, he is learning to take the good out those experiences and better himself.

This is a valuable lesson that we can all take into our lives.  We all have challenges, but if we focus on what we can learn from these experiences, then we will be a stronger person.  This reminds me of the scripture given to Joseph Smith by the Lord when he is in Liberty jail and he feels like he can’t endure this trial much longer.  It says: “…know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” (D&C 122:7)

Our experience shall be for our good.  Here again is that important life lesson, if we choose to abide by it.  If we don’t then it becomes a weakness.

There is an inspirational story about a man named Tony Melendez who was born with no arms.  This could be a weakness, however he chooses to make it his strength.  He learns to play a guitar by using his feet.  He makes beautiful music while playing the guitar and singing. 

He said, “God has given me strength. God has given me my family and he has given me my music which makes me feel strongly connected with Him. That helped me grow… It has calmed my heart…” 

His experience has made him grow and become stronger, just as Antonio's experience has made him grow and will continue to make him stronger in his life. It can do the same for us.

Innocence

“I had somehow lost my innocence and let sin enter into my soul, and the knowledge of God, the saving grace, was far away” (Rudolpho Anaya, Bless Me, Ultima 167)

In the book, Bless Me, Ultima, it’s about a young boy named Antonio Marez, who receives understanding during his life experiences by the guidance of a family friend named Ultima.  As the book starts out, he is innocent in nature about the world, but as he goes through his life experiences he grows and matures in his thinking and understanding and becomes aware of the pain and suffering in the world around him.

The quote mentioned above is Antonio’s thoughts about somehow losing his innocence and letting sin enter his soul.  I think it is Antonio’s way of trying to understand that he is not the same boy as he first started.  This is a crucial point for him because he believes that if he is not innocent than he has sinned.  What he still has to learn is that it is not that he has sinned, but that he is merely growing up and the knowledge he is gaining is like losing the innocence and the purity given from God.

This reminds me of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  They were in a state of innocence just like Antonio, but as they continued to experience knowledge and understanding and persuasion from Satan, they made a choice to lose their innocence.  Eve explains it best when she says, “It is better for us to pass through sorrow that we may know good from evil.”

Antonio, Adam and Eve both learned from their life experiences and losing their innocence that it is better for them to experience these things so that they will have the knowledge and understanding to make wise choices in the future.  The experiences that we receive in life are what mold us to become the person we need to become and it is natural for us to lose our state of innocence and to have these life experiences.

Power

“Then with nothing that could cast a shadow or core upon him, high above all, standing on his own shadow, he measured the scope of his power.” (Alejo Carpentier, The Kingdom of This World” 118)

This phrase about power really caught my attention.  It is referring to the time when Ti Noel, a slave in Haiti, is carrying stones to the top of the mountain to build King Henri Christophe’s fortress, the Citadel La Ferriere.  He is explaining that sometimes King Henri Christophe will have a chair brought up to the top of the mountain so that he can look out and ‘measure the scope of his power’.  Why is power so important?

Power is a way to cover up insecurities and fear and makes a person feel special and privileged. Before Henri Christophe became king, he was a slave.  He felt inferior to others and fearful of what others could do to him.  As he was able to gain power in his life, he liked the way that he felt.

This reminds me of the attachment theory by John Bowlby.  The attachment is about having an attachment to someone where you feel loved and respected.  When you have this attachment then you are happy.  So what happens if you do not have this attachment?  You would feel insecure and fearful.  Without this attachment people seek it elsewhere or they can become depressed and eventually give up and die.  In this case, King Henri Christophe sought it through power.  Through his power he treated his slaves badly, allowing him to feel special and privileged.

This reminds me of the character, Loki, in the Avengers.  As a little boy, he knew he did not compare to Thor and sought the attachment that he saw Thor have with is father.  As a result of this lack of attachment, he sought power by taking over Earth so that he could feel special and privileged, when in reality he felt insecure and fearful.  When we have attachments and feel love, we do not feel that it is necessary to seek out power or cause harm to others.

Music in Our Lives

Have you ever caught yourself moving to the music without even realizing it? Music influences our lives whether we realize it our not. I really enjoyed class when we were talking about Samba and Salsa music.  Dr. Mack said something that I keep thinking about.  He said, “Music is about a mood.”  As I have been pondering that, I think he is exactly right.

I went on a field trip with my son to listen to a symphony. The director was teaching the kids how to appreciate and understand the music. He played the music from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice when the kid is trying to clean up the room with magic and the magic gets out of control and all chaos breaks loose. The director told the kids that as the music starts out it is kind of fun and playful that is when the young apprentice is starting to experiment with the magic.  Gradually the music will progress and become quicker, this is when the magic is getting out of hand and the cleaning equipment is creating chaos.  He had the kids imagine the story in their heads as they proceeded to play the song.  The music expressed the moods in the movie to help the children create the story.

Music also helps with our moods when we exercise.  Zumba has become a very popular form of exercise and it has a lot to do with the fast music with a good rhythm that people want to move to.  People get a good workout while having fun. Runners also listen to music that has a quick beat to keep them moving.

Music influences our moods so much, it is important that we make sure we are aware of what we listen to.  If we are listening to any music that is angry, we will tend to be angry.  If we are listening to more mellow music, it will help us remain calm.  Music is very important.

Blame

Maria Candelaria, [film], Directed by Emilio Fernandez, 1943

The film is about a beautiful, young Indian woman, named Maria Candelaria, who is rejected by her own people for being the daughter of a prostitute.  She and her fiancé are constantly facing struggles in the movie as a result of being rejected. At one particular point she is very sick and her fiancé desperately breaks into a store and steals medicine for her.  Once she is better, they proceed to get married, but are stopped by the store’s owner who has her fiancé arrested for stealing.  Periodically throughout the story, a painter thinks she is the most beautiful woman and desires to paint her.  Maria finally agrees to model for his painting if he agrees to pay for the release of her fiancé.  The artist starts to paint her, but when she is asked to remove her clothing, she refuses.  The artist continues to paint the picture with someone else’s body.  When the people see the picture, they assume that it is Maria Candelaria and stone her to death. It ends with the painter finishing narrating the story to a young journalist as to the response why he has never displayed this painting before.

            In class, we discussed several perspectives as to who is to blame for her death.  The painter? The townspeople? The prostitute?  This reminded me of another story taught in my husband’s class. It is a story about a prince who marries a princess, but because of business is away a lot.  The princess becomes lonely and is enticed to run away with a boyfriend, who quickly leaves her.  The princess tries to return home and asks several people to help her but no one will.  She then proceeds to return through the enchanted forest where a dragon has been ordered by a witch to eat any trespassers.  As a result, the dragon eats the princess.  So who’s to blame for the death of the princess?

As the class discussed this question, it became apparent that a lot of speculation as to who’s to blame was based upon the experience of each of the class members.  As a result, it was determined that it doesn’t matter who’s to blame but more on how it affects us as the reader based upon our experience.  I think that Maria Candelaria is similar in this regards.  It doesn’t matter who’s to blame but more on how it affects us as the viewer based upon our experiences.