idea paper

For my paper I want to go from the feminist perspective. I am going to analyze the woman in this book including the three main woman characters Sylvia, Cindy, Nica but also some of the smaller feminine characters Mrs. Zuniga, Mary, Gina. I want to go into the “roles of the women” within this book. I want to first establish what the society within the book “The Flowers” puts women out to be and what responsibilities they should hold as women. I then want to analyze how each female character lives up to those roles and what their part in the book conveys to the readers and their significance within the book, whether it is Cindy as the “bad girl” or Nica as the “good girl” or Sylvia as “the Mexican Mom.” Including the gender roles, I also want to include ethnicity, mainly going into Sylvia and Nica, being mexican woman, where maybe the difference of Cindy being a white women. Lastly I want to analyze the age difference that the author decided to include within these women, he has Nica a young girl innocent, to Cindy the more experienced 19 year old, to Sylvia the mom and even includes Mrs. Zuniga the older more traditional lady. My main goal is to analyze the women within this book from their lifestyle to their ethnicity to their age, and my perspective to why the author felt each of these women important to the story.

The car salesman

Pink is a very interesting character. He is very mysterious; the author does not give us very much information on him on purpose I believe. When he first is selling the car to the “black man” you can tell that Pink is different from most white men. Right after Sonny has his first confrontation with Pink, you get your first taste of racism against African Americans. Cloyd shows dislike towards the black man that Pink is selling the car too, where Pink is trying to impress the black man by having Sonny move the trash cans. It is the first foreshadow to Pink preferring other races instead of being raciest like Cloyd. Then later on in the book page 64 you see him take Sonny for a ride to an all black neighborhood, which shows that he is defiantly a different character to the times because you see a lot of racism going on in conversations between Cloyd and Bud, two white men. Then as the book progresses around page 118, Pink shows distaste towards Cloyd, and feels like Cloyd is out to get him or is suspicious of him. “You’re not asking ‘cause of Longpre, are you?” (119) Then Pink late makes a deal with Sonny, that he will give him the car as long as he is on his side. “I just need you to be working with me, little brother. You see?” (138). This starts to show the significance of Pink and that sides are being formed. I think the significance of Pink is to show the real racism that is happening throughout this book. Pink is the “sketch” figure that is against Cloyd because he is raciest. I think this is going to lead to uprising later on in the book. I am not quite sure what Pink is trying to find out about Cloyd or what his plan is but I have a feeling it will have to do with something with black people because Cloyd shows a strong disliking and Pink is basically part of the black community. I think the author created Pink as a character to show racism and he will have a more significant part in the book as it goes on.

My father always.....

My father always has a big heart, he always helps people wherever and whenever. My dad puts up with alot of things just because he would rather hurt himself than see someone else hurt. My dad always would listen to me and love me no matter what and he always gave me anything that I needed. If there was a way that he could help he would, and even though he knew some things that I was doing were not the best choices he would watch me learn my lessons and be there for me always after. My dad always gave me freedom, even though he knew I would get hurt along the way and always made sure I knew I could come back to him and he would love me no matter what.

What Sonny will do with the money.

I think with the money that Sonny stole I feel like he is going to put it to good use. I am not really sure how but I feel like it will not be to benefit himself but someone else. I almost feel like he will give it to Mr. and Mrs. Zuniga to help and pay them back for all the meals and free bowling they have given him. Figuring they will need the money because they don’t get many customers and they normally give Sonny free food and bowling. If he does not use it for Mr. and Mrs. Zuniga maybe he will use it for an emergency. Maybe some really big event is going to come up and it would be really good that he has the money. My last thought about the money would be he would use it towards something for Nica. He really likes her and sees how unhappy she is and I think he would want to make her happy so I think he might buy her something or take her somewhere. I think also there is a possibility he might just return the money because he is constantly thinking about the money and scared he is going to get caught so maybe his conscience will get the best of him and he might just return the money or tell Cloyd that he stole it, but I don’t think he will tell Cloyd because I don’t think he has enough respect for Cloyd to say that he did or even care, I think he is more scared about getting caught with his mom. His mom is already really upset about him stealing the magazines she says she wants him to be a “man” and not steal. So I really don’t think he will come clean and tell and return the money because he doesn’t respect Cloyd enough and he knows it will hurt his mother but he does worry about somebody finding out about the money a lot. If I were in his position I probably would have helped Nica with it. I know that Nica really does not like feeling that Mexican and she is embarrassed of her spanish and how she can not speak english. She also doesn't go to school so maybe I would buy her some books to help her learn english and become more Americanized. Something that would make her feel more comfortable in the United States so she would stay and also by helping her I would think it would get her to like me better. I would not have felt very bad about stealing it from Cloyd because he promised to pay me for the painting and never did and they don't give me money for my own food, they just kind of neglect me as a child unless they need something that benefits them.

One scene that you relate to personally

“I hate my name,” she said. “Well, okay, so then I guess what you gotta do is dye your hair blond.”

“You know, everybody who is Mexican is named Maria, like my mom.” (100)

I can relate to this scene where she is talking about her name and how it relates to her race in some ways. I personally do not have a distinct “white” name but when my parents were trying to name me my mom wanted to name me Janessa. Which I think is an absolutely beautiful name but my dad said that that was not a name for a white girl. It sounded more like a black girl’s name. I think it is interesting how a name can describe a person so much and just all the different perspectives people have on names. A name is not a huge deal; it does not describe you or make who you are in most cases, it can defiantly give you different experiences, but I feel like putting a race on a name is kind of silly. Although yes there are typical “white names” “black names” “Mexican names” I feel like a name should be something you are proud of.  I would have loved to be named Janessa and actually if I have a daughter I want to name her Janessa, regardless if my dad still thinks it is a “black name,” but I still love my name Monica.
        The author included this scene within the book in order to give the reader a background of just how Nica feels about her race. She feels like her name is too Mexican and she would love to have a more Americanized name. Nica does not feel comfortable in the United States and the reader can see from this scene that she is ashamed of her background and I predict that will lead to changes as the book goes on. My perspective of this reminds me how names do not really spark much of a background to me, I mean a lot of names of meanings but they should not define how you see yourself. Where in the book the author is showing the author that Nica feels like if she had a more American name then she would fit in better and just how much she feels like her race affects her.

My Mom Never...

My mom never went anywhere without her camera. When I was growing up we would go everywhere, Disneyland, Yosemite, Sea World and every place whether it be Hawaii or our kitchen my mom would always have her camera with her. It was really important possesion of hers to carry around because my mom treasured every moment she spent with everyone. My mom loved to scrapbook and her scrapbooks were beautiful. It was amazing how she could take a simple roll of film and leave you in awe after flipping only the beginning pages to her wonderful books. We always use to joke and make fun of my mom and give her a hard time when she took pictures and she would say countless times, “One day you will thank me for this.” My mom was really ill and while she was really ill she worked hard on her scrapbooks, until one day she passed away. Now, I look at the shelves in my living room and see fifteen beautiful scrapbooks with thousands of pictures taken by my mom’s camera that she never went anywhere without and now I say thank you.

Predict what will happen to Sonny in the book.

I predict that Sonny will continue to dislike the living arrangements with his mom and Cloyd, but I think he will become infatuated with the apartment complex and the people inside. I think in the beginning of the story when Sonny shared how he like to just go into people’s houses just to see how they lived and feel how it is to be them. That showed the reader that one quality of Sonny is curiosity. I think his curiosity will lead him to learning more about the people in the apartment complex. He already has had  a few encounters with the people there and I predict the encounters with the neighbors are going to come more often now that he is doing more work around the premises for Cloyd. I think he is going to try and pursue the girl that he thinks he is so beautiful. I have a feeling that this girl is going to have a big impact in his life, whether it be good or bad, but i think this girl is going to become a major character in Sonny's life.

I am..

I am a spontaneously, creative, outgoing girl who is not quite sure what I want to accomplish in life. I enjoy science and most likely will continue my education into the medical field. I am going to Gavilan College to do my general education and to obtain a minor in spanish. I enjoy playing volleyball and other sports and outdoor activities. I have a wonderful dad and an amazing brother that I live with currently. Unfortunatly I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was eleven so it has played a huge role in my life growing up. Reading and writing have been a big part of my life. I think reading is interesting because it opens your eyes to other peoples views and I enjoy learning new cultures and seeing other peoples opinions on topics.