Gregorio Cortez

I think the folk tale of Gregorio Cortez is very exaggerate. I understand that he is a hero to many, but how they tell the story is unrealistic, especially in some of the other versions that we read. The part where it talks about a dozen Americans surrounding him but no one could take him down is silly. But I guess if this is how they like to remember their hero it is okay. We tell stories of Cinderella and Snow White, and now even Shrek because we like animated versions of good people that we can look up to. I think that the Mexicans think of Cortez in the same way, he is someone they can strive to be like, and someone they can tell their kids about. Watching the different movie versions of Cortez in class was entertaining. I was curious to see how the Mexicans would portray Cortez and the sheriff. Overall not a bad story to read.

Blood Wedding

The Blood Wedding was a play written by Lorca. I would much rather read a story than a play. I find plays harder to read because you have to keep track of all the characters and it just ends up confusing me. I also find myself concentrating on the scene setup rather then the story itself and I end up getting lost. I thought it was interesting that there were so many hidden meanings tied into the story, as Group 2 pointed out. I didn't catch any of those while I was reading, so I'm glad we were able to have that class discussion. The part of the story that struck me was the mothers character. She was so offended by knives that she didn't want her son to have one, yet she was very revengeful and so full of anger. I think that the real reason she didn't like knives is not only because her husband and other son were killed by them but because of what she might do if she possessed one. I didn't like the end of the story where she practically forced her son into seeking her revenge. She is the reason she lost her last son.