Analysis Of Mericans By Sandra Cisneros

“Mericans” written by Sandra Cisneros is a story about a group of children primarily a girl, who are stuck between a transitional period of their lives due to their changing environment. The short story demonstrates culturistic differences by both location and background. The title of the short story is a perfect example of detailing how the children felt while waiting outside the church. They felt ostracized due to their background and grandmother. The children 's grandmother gave them one order which was to stay outside the church and wait, however the outside world gave them another. The outside world said to be explorative and roam the plaza and enjoy the atmosphere. The main conflict of the story is centered around the children’s grandmother …show more content…
In the story, the children were not Americanized, the children were immigrants that were beginning to be exposed to the American culture. That is why the girl even made it a point to specify that her and her siblings were not Americans nor Mexicans, however Mericans. A term she came up with on her own to individualize herself from the people around her. Neither the grandma or the children were represented negatively, the children were only seemed to be negligent of their grandmother because of their want to not be outsiders of a world that interested …show more content…
Although I did not necessarily agree with most of the group opinions I still value the group’s responses to the literature. I thought that their personal responses about the short story made me questions my own interpretations. I found this story to be very relatable to my upbringing and childhood. My mother who primarily raised me, was born and raised in Mexico and migrated here when she was 18. Although she was in her 40’s during my childhood she still carried many Mexican beliefs with her that she daily expressed with me throughout my upbringing and even today. So I can very much relate to the grandmother’s parental teaching and the upset the children felt when wanting to do something that seemed normal for the surrounding people. What resonated the most for me was in the opening paragraph of the poem, when the young girl was detailing what her grandmother did inside of the church. What she detailed reminded me a lot of how my own mother is; my mother is almost identical to the children 's grandmother. Every Sunday my mother could be found praying at church with a rosary in her hand. As well as lighting religious candles around the