Analysis Of Like Mexicans By Gary Soto

In the memoir "Like Mexicans," the author Gary Soto; Experiences his teenage years all over again. As an adult, he realizes that his culture/traditions and conservative grandmother could have gotten in the way of his true love. She was an Okie. Wherever you go there’s a boss. Soto’s grandma is like most of our grandmas, a little racist and spicy. Gary’s grandma wants him to become a barber because he could earn good money and he would get to listen to the radio all day.  According to his grandmother, Gary shouldn’t marry an Okie, I believe Soto said that it was a piece of good advice because he was thinking about the “benefits” that come with most Mexican women, I think he forgot that usually, one marries for love. His mother, on the other hand, said “Well if you want to be a barber- they say they make good money.” I’m guessing she couldn’t go against her mom’s input but she also wanted to let her son make his own decisions. Assuming this, I believe she meant the same thing about dating an Okie, in the text she stated “If you find a good Mexican girl, marry her of course,” she probably meant it more on the love side, not the cultural side. When Soto told his mother, all she said was “Well, sure if you want to marry her.” He feels worried because has always been taught to marry a Mexican girl, he’s never known anything else.

Sotos grandma said, “She would cook, and second she acted like a woman, not a man.” In my personal opinion, most grandmas and mothers have this constant urge to nag that their sons are too good for any woman out there. Gary gave us a description of what and how he felt about his girlfriend's social class, he thought that because she wasn't Mexican, she was automatically richer. Gary was worried that Carolyn's parents would think he wasn't good enough/ rich enough. When Gary saw the chipped paint, the cracked windows, and the boarded pathways he felt relieved to know that he wasn't alone, that money didn't matter to his girlfriend. The cat in this story represents his community, their mistakes, their triumphs, and wherever they go their past and social class does not define them, their actions determine their present. Soto focuses on this because he thought it was part of his tradition to marry into his race, when he married an “Okie” he was making new traditions for future traditions. I believe this is a memoir, I think it's both a younger version of him and an older version putting his input now that he looks back. 

When I finished reading this article, I found myself wondering, who am I? What would I do? This memoir means so much to me, it helped me realize that my culture and my family can influence so much in my life. As the generations pass, new ideas start to form. My mother often tells me that I have to understand my grandma because she grew up in a different generation. I often get mad because I wonder where she was all these years that she didn't change with time? Why can't she understand that time has passed? Thankfully, my grandmother understands that her ideas have to change, it’s not that easy for her but it makes me feel safe that she’ll change over time.