Ashes of Izalco-bookr report :: essays research papers

ASHES OF IZALCOBy Claribal Alegria and Darwin J. FlakollI found the beginning of this book quite confusing. I had a difficult time acute who the main characters were and what was the plot. I also wasnt quite sure when the Mother had died and it wasnt until later that I realized the reason that Carmen was present was because she had traveled root word for her mothers funeral. However, once I got into the book and started to put the characters in context, I really began to enjoy it.This book has very sad overtones. It is concerned with the benignant struggle for happiness in life, or maybe just contentment. Just about every main character, present and past, seems to be involved in somewhat inner turmoil. Carmen is struggling with her own identity and her unhappiness in her mating to Paul. She feels she plays a role of dutiful wife as she was brought up to be, but that the espousal really has no strong foundation and she and her husband have nothing in common. Possibly a repetiti on of her parents marriage? She admits to being convinced by her husband to have an abortion. This must have been very traumatic to reconcile with her Catholic upbringing as she refers to it as a crime. She is searching passim the narrative for answers to her questions. What has become of her? What should she do about her marriage? Her father? And one of the most pressing questions is her struggle to understand why her has mother left the diary to her? There are no clear answers for Carmen. As she searches for answers she is also experiencing the very early stages of the grieving process. She is angry. She doesnt like at all that her mother has altered her view of her as a parent. Dont we all think that our parents never make mistakes or have questions in their own lives? If Isabel had left the marriage when she was a child, Carmen would have been forced to deal with the issue of an imperfect world with imperfect people. As she travels through some very poignant reminiscences, sh e admits to her own self-absorption as a child. As an full-grown, she reflects on now seeing her parents more clearly as individuals. I, too, have personally had this experience in seeing parents differently from the adult perspective. Carmen appears to be wearing a mask in her own relationship that shows a repetition of her mothers life.