Joebell and America

Love in the short story was portrayed in different ways. Most importantly, I see Joebell’s great love for the United States of America. He seems to believe that America holds so many opportunities and the answers to all of his problems. “Everything he talk about is big: big mountains and big cars and race horses and heavyweight boxing champions and people in America — everything big.” The second way love is portrayed is between him and Alicia. Even though I wouldn’t consider what they have as love, he does. He seems to see a future with her and knows that she is way too good for him. That ties into Joebell reminding me of Yunior in This is How You Lose Her. Both characters are little trouble makers and are always up to no good. However, at the end of the day they probably seek love, since everyone around them has no hope for them. Loss basically took place when Joebell got caught, and couldn’t move to America. All of his hopes and dreams for his future collapsed at that point. He most likely let everyone down, so it was a loss not only for him but for Alicia and his mom, too.
          I really liked how the author added in Trinidadian dialect and speech patterns to Joebell. I feel like it made the story much more believable and realistic. I don’t think that it was excessive to the point that I wouldn’t understand what was trying to be told in the story so that’s a plus.

The Spectator

     I am a bit iffy about this story. I only liked it towards the end because I feel like the beginning dragged on. I was pretty detached in the beginning and was confused as to what was going on. Who is Magda? Why are they having dinner together? However, as I continued reading the story began to progress and there was more action that grabbed by attention.

     I think the author did want us to think that Hugo is weak. I feel like she was trying to show that when you’re rich like Hugo, you’re pretty disconnected from the problems of the world “God, it was so moving, listening to Mozart’s music on those cold summer nights and thinking of Hitler a few miles away…” (pg.203) Yes, they are somehow affected but at the end of the day their money can get them out of a lot of situations.  

     Hugo did, however, somehow progress as a character throughout the story. When it was him who was personally in the midst of the war, who was attacked by a torpedo in the apparently neutral water, he began to see the war in a far different outlook. “How often, before going to bed, had he casually crumpled the newspaper he had been reading, in which there were stories about air raids, torpedoes, or fires – oh, so many of them that he wearied of pity?” At this point he realized that his perspectives on global issues were “unfair”.