Week One

Question #2 :According to the narrator this fight takes place when the narrator was a child and the poem is written when the narrator is an adult. What do you think triggers this reflection and why does the narrator now have a greater understanding of Teresa?

It is these interactions that can linger for a lifetime. Confronted with doubt the author was challenged with abiding to a given role to her character, despite her means in doing so. Specifically,being a mexican american living in a place where there is much oppression toward their people, there is a pressure to conform to the cultural norm; even if it is as petty as sharing a common attitude or drive. In this case,  Theresa threatened the author by opposing her well mannered , studious nature causing a prolonged resentment for years to come. Of course, being so young one is naive and predictably critical to someone they do not understand.  The message behind the poem is that the author simply didnt know better. The only influences she noted was the joined effort of her family to shape the person she is today. Her Grandmother,  who gave her pencils for Christmas when it could have easily been make up or cloths. Or her hard working father, mastering a skill of precision and patience, all of  these forces helped mold her identity. 
Àvila Hernàndez accepted Teresa because she recognizes that both of them shared an equal misunderstanding of  each other. They came from different families, dove into different interest, dressed differently. For teresa, it was her nature to confront the author of her ways, but in the end it was just deriving from her own insecurities. The insecurities all kids share when struggling to build their identity. It is until now, when Àvila Hernàndez is an adult that she can reflect on the past with better reasoning,  forgiving Teresa not for her actions but for her ignorance. Now that she is an adult she can look at Teresa and respect her for who she is, not who she isn't. I truly believe that empathy is the pinnacle of understanding another person or group of people. We as humans act in ways that demand conformity, it is that very structure that allows us to strive in our identity. For both, it was a lack of understanding of each other allowing them to struggle with acceptance and ended in anger.