Identity quest
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- the voyage represents some type of quest
- a quest for identity (inner self)/ meaning of life
- the road magnifies what really matters to you
- while on the move you need to search for that meaning
- in the voyage you won’t necessarily find your identity but there will meaning to what you find
- the quest is more important then actually finding exactly what you are looking for
Questions on Crossing
McCarthy’s writing is composed of sparse dialogue, rich description and philosophical statements about existence, God, the self and other abstractions. Flag these statements for further discussion and exploration.In this story you can see a great deal of examples and advises that are concerning life in itself. To me it seem as if in a way it is sort of a way to try to find something that perhaps is not lost but it will make you feel complete maybe fill a space that might make you think you are empty. In a way is like Billy is not happy were he is at, therefore he has to make his own adventure to satisfy that emptiness that he might feel exists in his life. When he decides to take the wolf to Mexico, is kind of like something that he feels he has to do just to try to make some sense of things and somehow he knows he has to do it in order to fulfill him in a way.
Why are the wolves so savage in killing cattle? What kind of society or way of life do the cows violate, angering the wolves?I think that the wolves are so savage in killing the cattle because in a way they represent society and the people that have conquer their open space. These cows belong to those who have taken control of all that belonged to them and the open spaces that once was theirs. These animals represent in a way the people that have taken over everything that once were open for them to go about with out any care.
Woman as a Victim
Clemencia can be consider as a victim of society since she is portrayed in a form where she doesn’t belong to the Chicano culture or the Anglo culture. She might also be consider a victim of Drew since he uses her only to please himself, but never plans to take her seriously enough to leave his wife and marry her. Aside from been a victim she also has power over the men that are involved with her since in the case of Drew’s son she told him to have him and let him be born. She also has control over Drew since she can recreate him from memory and make him be seen as she wants him to be seen. She also had control over the other men that had been with her since she retains them by her side when their wives are giving birth which is a very important moment on a couple’s life. In the story Clemencia is called Malinalli, Malinche by Drew which is also another aspect of how she was a victim as the Malinche by being rejected by her own kind. A similarity between both of them is that Clemencia was also a translator and both of them were used in a way to satisfy the needs of others, in this case men.
One Holy Night
This is a good example of how girls can be manipulated by men. Like the other stories this young girl is taken advantage of by a men she hardly knows, but that has a powerful “labia”, big lair. This story has little truth on it since Chaq lies to her of who he is and she lies to her grandmother. The only truth in it might be that she is pregnant and that he is a murderer. Maybe the relationship between truth and power could be that if your words sound truthful enough you gain power over the other person and convince then so they would do has you tell them.
Boy, Baby, Men
The men in these stories are formed to be something else then what they resemble. In the Eyes of Zapata she talks to him in baby forms calling him mi bebito while she takes care of him in his sleep. She said that to her he is still the boy she met and fell in love with even though he was a man who everyone considers a great general. On Never Marry a Mexican she talks about Drew’s son as the boy, her baby, who she gave permission to be born. This boy of hers resembles his father who used to be her lover, but now she only has the son who in a way replaces Drew. In comparison to this story the men who are loved by these women become everything to them, where they can behave like a baby, be playful like a boy, but seduce then like a man. In a way they might be pointing out the reality of man that they are nothing but baby’s who are very irresponsible. They are also deceiving and love can be a trader too, letting you see things that are not real.
