My Ride, My Revolution from the Short Stories by Rodriguez - Essay Example

My Ride, My Revolution: A Critical Analysis Rodriguez in the book, The Republic of East LA, has compiled 12 short stories; all of which represent a similar stance and that negate the usual metaphor that comes to the mind when one comes to think of LA. This compilation was published in 2002 and has acclaimed some awards too. The trend of short story writing started with the onset of the World Wars and O. Henry, an American writer, is hailed as one of the important people who contributed a lot to this genre. The short stories are designed in such a way that they encapsulate the readers and compels them to read it in one go. Also, short stories also serve the purpose of delivering a message to the masses which is often hidden in the symbols and incidents which are employed in the short story. I have picked up My Ride, My Revolution from the short stories by Rodriguez in his book The Republic of East LA. After reading this short story one comes to realize that everything that man dreams of cannot be fulfilled with just believing in it. Though believing is the first step towards succeeding in it, but one needs to get all his courage and muster all his strength and put forth his effort in making that dream come true. This short story is relayed through the protagonist, Cruz Blancarte, a mixed breed of Mexicans and Indians. Since the reader gets to know the entire picture of East LA through first person narration, so the writer does not give the liberty to assess the environment and various circumstances to the reader. The setting of this short story is set in the downtowns of East LA, where majority of the tourists do not venture into. Rodriguez describes the place as “a segmented society of "who has" and "who hasn't," and practically telling the world, "see...here I am, in the barrio -- how about that!" (Rodriguez, “My Ride, My Revolution”). From the beginning to the end, Cruz is shown to be hurrying down from the airports to the lavish hotels and parties of the rich people or the artists in search of better work. However, notice the sense of his belongingness to his own place: East La, and even before that, to Purepecha’s: wherever he goes he knows his place and never feels that he’s superior. So Cruz belongs to the close closeted cottages of his Block and he is a part of a local Rock Band and he does carry an air of a very confident man, if not a proud man. As it says: The setting of this short story is essential and it too serves a purpose. It gives a voice and opinion of the people belonging to the place where everyone is dying to climb the social ladder. Rodriguez puts this utter desperation perspicuously, telling: “kids of all sizes, of many coughs and giggles, skirmish around it, climb its blinding chrome and white armor, smearing dirt and fingerprints on its tinted windows” (Rodriguez, “My Ride, My Revolution”). This lot can also be viewed as the voice of the subalterns; people whose opinions are neglected because they are not mainstream. Unfortunately, these people don’t really get into politics and so naturally their voice and concerns are not passed to the authorities. As you see there is just one person, Ruby, Cruz’s mother who is an activist and who’s all for revolution: “My mom, Ruby, is a Chicana activist from back in the day -- you know, the sixties and seventies” (Rodriguez, “My Ride, My Revolution”). It is because of her that Cruz is so socially aware of the things around him. Not only his ears but his eyes are picking avenues that are not wandered by the foreigners, as for them, LA is just Hollywood and parties. Through the objective lens projected by Cruz, the readers come to know about the other side of the picture: East LA. My Ride, My Revolution, the title of this short story strikes attention as it compels the reader to read ahead and know what sort of a revolution is coming on the way and through a ride. The ride can be a spiritual one, a physical one and a political one too. What can be seen in this short story is the picture of no chaos, no riots and at primary reading, it may occur to the reader that where is the revolution, though Cruz does takes the readers to various rides to and from the airport and adds snippets from his conversations with two of his passengers and lastly, the last, fatal drive because of which he was thrown out of his job. Apparently, all the rides that Cruz made were a sort of revolution. In terms of knowing his identity and being proud of it. Secondly, he knew that most of the people whom he’s giving rides are superficial and their lives are mundane. Through this readers realize the potential in Cruz and his knowledge which is not wholly bookish; he as an individual emerges as he comes full circle at the end of this short story. The way this story unfolds is unique and the readers are given a sense of friendly companionship, almost as if someone is talking to them, sharing their experiences. The setting plays an important part of this short story as it serves as a base to understand the nature of its inhabitants and of Cruz and also how relative people can be according to their towns. The protagonist muses as he describes his own place: “We're all neighbors of small cottages near Prospect Park in Boyle Heights” (Rodriguez, “My Ride, My Revolution”). This implies how much he is attached to his locality; and how learned he is about the conditions of the barrio. Also notice the sense of history that is prevailing in Cruz and that how seldom people know of their “collective conscious” and even striking is the notion that the protagonist is proud of them. I think this is what makes him distinct and not the fact that he drives a limo. The major motif that is redundant in My Ride, My Revolution are the closeted cottages which manifest the theme of poverty amidst riches. This has been clearly described in the text: “One of the cottages, I swear, has twenty people in it: children, grandparents, wives, husbands, uncles, aunts, and probably a stranger who nobody knows, but they make him breakfast anyway” (Rodriguez, “My Ride, My Revolution”). Limocan also be taken as symbol which stands for high class which is the major reason that Cruz is given much importance after he becomes a chauffeur and suddenly loses all the glory after his job is no longer valid. Though, somewhere in the middle, he does the know the absurdity and frailty of all the material things including his limo and the foreshadowing of his thought process proves to be true at the end. The end is open and there can be multiple interpretations that can be drawn out from it. First one is that Cruz may join the likes of his mother and becomes an activist like her. As he says earlier that Revolution is not like being Jesus or Zapata, actually it’s having an impact on all the people who is around you. So he may join the Non-Profit Organization to benefit the people around him. And thirdly, he finds a new job and never allows anyone to take advantage of him just as Bernarda did. “Money is a façade but it has a force greater than nature.” This appears to be the most important facet of life that Rodriguez has pointed out and so this is what stands out clearly in the events that follow in this short story. As you see the limo cruising from the airport to Hollywood and back to East LA, one realizes the stark contrast between the two; just as dream and reality, which have a connection: Airport. If you notice closely, the Limo that Cruz drives can also be taken as synecdoche, a poetical devise which represents the whole and the whole with that object, so the limo stands for the high class and shows you the mundane and frivolous vices of the high class too. In this regard it can be observed that though money is taken to be a supreme deity but actually it’s more like an eternal vine through which one thinks that one is seeking happiness, well actually it’s bounding you to nothingness. Consider the case of the escort that Cruz drives from the airport to Hollywood and then in the middle of the conversation, he does realize that deep inside she is lonely and sad, though she does have money and brighter future prospects, in terms of money. To add, My Ride, My Revolution sees the surrounding society and the protagonist is consistently trying to revive the past, the history. This nostalgia for the past is also found in the conversation of the beautiful escort who admits that she has left behind her family and the green fields of her hometown but her fragility of the character is such that she left all of that for the sake of money. It seems that the author of My Ride, My Revolution is experimenting with neo-historicism as there are various examples through which it can be found out that there is great need to re-think our ways. In the thesis statement it is highlighted that money is such a force that it even leaves behind nature and that is true. See the tourist attraction of LA is not green fields or the landscapes but Hollywood, the imaginary money attraction for people belonging from different places. It can also be perceived that earlier in the days people travelled in order to satiate their desires to see the beauteous, wondrous nature. And now they only wander off to those far way places because everyone is going there and they have to be a part of social snobbery. This social hypocrisy is witnessed in this short story by Rodriguez, where so many people travel to Hollywood just so they can be at the outskirts of that place. It has been known to many that fewer people even got far to the gates even though they possessed the tickets to watch the movie but either because of security or rush, not many people got through. This however, never dampened the spirits of the tourist and thus LA is only known by Hollywood or some luxurious motels. Cruz tries to present a different picture of LA and for this reason the title of the book has focused on the Eastern side, which is the real LA. The need to review things as they are, are time and again imposed by the term revolution which suggests that changes need to be made into the mind-set of the people and only then can real change be brought about. As Martinez says, ““Luis Rodriguez has the eye of a journalist and the heart of a poet--the perfect combination to write living, breathing stories set in the biggest, most mythologized, and least understood Mexican-American barrio in the United States. Read this book and you will walk beautiful, fallen streets. You will commune with the souls of a territory whose painful history cannot deny its dreams.” (Martinez, “The Other Side”) Work Cited Martinez, Ruben (1993). The Other Side: Notes from the New L.A. Mexico City, and Beyond. New York: Vintage. Print. Rodriguez, Luis. “My Ride, My Revolution.” Worldcat, n.d. Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. Web. 14 November 2013 from the Worldcat.org Website: Read More