Eduardo C. Corral

                Eduardo C. Corral was born and raised in Casa Grande, Arizona, and, surprisingly, grew up outside the influence of easy access to literature.  After attending Arizona State University, though, he discovered his love of writing poetry and eventually received his master’s degree from Iowa Writer’s Workshop.  While reading Corral’s poetry, it was very interesting to compare his overarching themes to ones that have been explored so far in Latino Literature class.  Besides including traditional themes, Corral’s work presents explorations into the question of identifying sexuality, as he is openly gay but grew up in a machismo community where this was ridiculed.  These poems by Corral in the anthology The Wind Shifts, then, can be appreciated by readers who want a glimpse of Latino lifestyle and history in both traditional and new ways because the poems explore borders, self-identity, and family values, mixed in with sexuality.

                 Borders are a prominent theme in Latino Literature, whether they are the psychological alienation experienced by those who must live within a society who doesn’t recognize them as equals, or the physical walls that exist on the U.S.-Mexican border.  In Corral’s poem To a Mojado Who Died Crossing the Desert, the tragedies that take place along the physical border in between the United States and Mexico are addressed.  This is an ode to a crosser who has died in the desert wilderness.  When reading this poem, though, the reader gets an eerie sensation that feels like forgotten death, or the desert calling out for more sacrifices: “the sand calls out for more footprints” (line 84).  The repetitive use of the word “hush” (lines 5, 12) and abstract similes like “a mouse can be torn open like an orange” (lines 10-11) contribute to this sensation of forlornness. 

            The title of this poem also reflects the border theme, as a “mojado,” the equivalent to “wetback according to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, is a person who crosses a border through a body of water.  It is interesting to look at whether this poem is celebrating or disapproving of what the desert is doing to the travelers who are dying on their way to the U.S.  Because of this ambiguity of meaning, it is difficult for the reader to determine what impression of borders the author is trying to create through this poem.  Is a border a natural part of life that should not be reckoned with? This poem poses the elusiveness of this idea. 

            A second overarching theme in Latino Literature is that of the search for self-identity.  The poem called Poem After Frida Kahlo’s Painting “TheBroken Column” reveals the process of Kahlo’s search for her own identity through painting self-portraits.  The poem is divided into twelve chapters of differing lengths: the longest is a full paragraph and the shortest is three words.  In a way, the chapters create separate borders in the poem itself!  This poem is also very abstract, and the images, again, give the reader a mysterious feeling when they read it.  The Broken Column, on which this poem is based, is a self-portrait done by Frida Kahlo.  Kahlo was the wife of Diego Rivera, a renowned Latino artist, but also faced much suffering throughout her life, beginning with the time when as a teenager she was involved in a car accident that cracked her spinal column in several places.  Her suffering from this accident can be seen in The Broken Column, which portrays her half-naked in a desert setting, her bare skin pierced with nails.  Corral’s usage of the color red throughout this poem gives the impression of these piercing nails, by using images like “a ruby ring on her finger,” (line seven) “I want to find the perfect shade of red,” (line twenty) and “an hourglass of blood” (line fifty-four). 

            Through writing this poem about Kahlo searching for self-identity, Corral is also suggesting his own search for self-identity.  Growing up as a Chicano in the United States and a gay man in a machismo culture has been especially difficult, as he said in an interview with the Web del Sol website.  With this knowledge, it is interesting to see if Corral’s poem about The Broken Column suggests an individual who has found an identity or who is still searching.  The final line “a mirror remembering water” (line 59) can be taken either way.

            A final literary theme that has been found throughout this class is that of the value of family and relationships, which, in Corral’s case, also relates to finding sexual identity.  The poem Ditat Deus is written in two chapters: the first in prose form and the second with poetic stanzas.  The second chapter discusses how his father taught him to love a man when he was a boy.  This is very interesting because it seems as if the father in the poem is only allowing his son to do activities that any son would do with his father, such as helping him shave in the morning and unlacing his work boots in the evening. 

            The first chapter looks at how the narrator must also learn to form relationships with the rest of society, namely the work world.  The narrator is working as a bag boy at a shopping center and is told by his boss to follow around Mexicans and Native Americans to make sure they don’t shoplift.  This is ironic as the title of the poem Ditat Deus is the state motto of Arizona, meaning “God enriches.”  Questioning trust in the narrator’s own ethnic identity, then, is another factor that plays into the search for how he forms relationships with both his family and the rest of society.         

            All in all, the poems of Eduardo C. Corral explore both traditional and new aspects of Latino culture.  Through looking at borders, self-identity, and family values mixed in with a search for sexuality, Corral’s poems are very rich for any reader who wants to experience a new type of American literature.  

Why Study Literature?

            In one of my classes during the first week of school, we discussed the importance of studying literature, especially that of a specific group of people.  Our class eventually decided that literature describes the history of a people through giving them a voice to tell it in their own manner.  Because history from textbooks and articles about current events tend to be written from just one perspective, it is important to read accounts of a culture written by people from the culture itself that give it a more accurate and greater dimension.  Novels and other forms of realistic fiction or non-fiction, such as the books Bless Me, Ultima, The Guardians, and The Devil’s Highway show the themes from Chicano literature through the eyes of people who have actually encountered border issues, etc.  Journalism is not able to convey to the reader what it feels like to experience the stages of heat exhaustion, as Urrea did in The Devil’s Highway, or to have such different life expectations from mother and father, as Antonio did in Bless Me, Ultima.  In short, then, literature gives more life to a group of people than journalism ever can through relaying real-life experiences in a way that the reader can personally connect. 

           

            Through taking this class, I have learned a lot about Mexican/Latino culture and how it relates to American culture.  When we talked about our different identities in class, it was interesting to see how many people came to the United States because of displacement, or to build a better life for family.  In a way, then, each person could write a different story of their own experiences or culture.  Everyone’s story is important, whatever culture, and the best way to convey experiences is through a writing style that brings the original story to life again.    

Becoming a Person

            One of the lines that struck me the most from the novel The Guardians was a quote by Regina, the protagonist, who is talking about the dreams undocumented persons have when coming to the United States: “We [Regina and her mother] had to get our papers in order. That’s all every immigrant in the world wants, to get her papers in order.  To officially become a person” (116).  For me, it is very hard to put my head around the idea that my social security card or my passport officially makes me a person.  In this story, though, that is the conflict of Gabo, whose life is established in the United States even though he is not an official citizen because he does not have papers.  His father, Rafa, is also facing this dilemma, though he does not want to permanently live in the States, but earn enough money working to build a “casita back home” for his family (116).  Regina was lucky to attain her papers through her marriage to a U.S. soldier, or maybe she was just doing what she had to do to survive. 

            The little piece of paper that gives permission for a person to legally work or reside in the United States is also a recurring issue in the book The Devil’s Highway, namely because all 26 of the men attempting to come into the country do no have this piece of paper.  Because they believe that working in the United States will bring them wealth like their neighbors, (46) they are persuaded to follow the coyote in taking the supposedly easy trek through the mountains and desert, which they think will be “a walk in the park” (58).  This walk, however, turns out to be much more dangerous than described, as shown by the results of their mission:  death or near death. 

            What if these men had attempted to apply for a work visa to legally enter and work in the U.S.?  Even for workers who are looking for a non-permanent job, the process of legally entering is still a lengthy process.  According to the Work Permit Website, for a foreign worker who is not the executive of a company or who does not have a school degree of some sort, getting chosen to work abroad is unlikely.  An employer in the U.S. must first of all demonstrate that there is a lack of U.S. citizens to fill the jobs that are vacant in his/her company.  After the need is established, it can take from two to six months for a candidate to get transferred to the U.S. using a non-immigrant visa.  From there, they can eventually apply for a green card when they have begun their job.  But what if you are not chosen for the job?  What is the next step?  For many, such as the men from Veracruz, it is putting trust in a system (the coyote system) that is not picky in choosing only “skilled workers” to come to the United States.    

Misinformed?

          While watching this movie, I, like many other students in our Latino Literature class, was astonished to see how many residents of Prince William County made their decisions to support the ‘Probable Cause’ mandate based on so few facts.  When citizens used arguments such as “illegals don’t speak English” and “9/11 was caused by illegals,” they forgot to notice that the crime rate in the area had gone down since Latinos had come to the area and that many businesses were also doing very well.  I wonder, though, if knowing these facts before enacting the law would have made any difference to those in support.  Because Letiecq, one person, had so much influence over how citizens viewed this new mandate through his blog, many people were only getting their information through one, biased source.

            It seems as if Arizona’s new law, 1070, is one almost exactly like the mandate of Prince William County, Virginia.  The section that allowed police officers to check immigration status based on ‘probable cause’ was repealed because it was thought to be a form of racial profiling, such as we saw in 9500 Liberty.  Despite the elimination of this section, though, the bill will give out harsher penalties for those found harboring illegal immigrants, etc.  (See link above).  Even though critics say that 26,000 illegals have already been deported from Arizona since 2007 without the law, 1070 is still in effect right now.  This article also says that around the rest of the United States, a majority supports the law.  How is this overwhelming support even possible with the deportation of so many illegal immigrants already?

            I believe that one of the reasons we U.S. citizens appear misinformed is because of how daily news information is attained.  I learned from John Sharp, my history professor at Hesston College, that reading through different newspapers and news websites in order to pick up more than one angle of any news story is one of the only ways to pick up important information in the least biased manner.  Even though I am sometimes guilty of quickly skimming through one source to get news, I believe that exposing myself to both points of view allows me to make a more informed decision.  Listening to people, too, who have actually experienced some of the effects of harsh immigration laws is also important, for they are the best ones from which to receive a version of real-life events that is consistent with reality. 

            It is very important to be informed before making a decision.  What would have happened if the United States had known what they were getting themselves into before they entered Iraq?  Were they trying to find the terrorists responsible for 9/11 or were they trying to get rid of Saddam Hussein, who they had supported during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s?  Because U.S. citizens can have such a big influence on who runs the government and what decisions the U.S. makes concerning domestic and foreign policy, knowing all the facts if vital.  This can be said for any other organization as well.  As a member of Mennonite Church USA, I struggle to comprehend what will happen to the church body after deciding to hold the 2013 National Convention in Phoenix.  Did the board not research the potential calamities that could result from this decision?  Hopefully, the outcomes won’t be too disastrous.