Sirena Sirena is a story of love, pain and rejection. Febres takes us in the world of men who live painful lives because of their sexuality. One of the central themes that Febres explores seems to be family relationships. Many of the characters have been rejected by their families and society and often find solace by creating their own families with those who are like them or can see beyond their sexuality. Martha Divine for example protects and nurtures Sirena although her actions are not completely selfless. It is as though they have been doomed at birth to suffer, with the only place willing to accept them being the dangerous streets of Puerto Rico. If they are lucky enough to be 'rescued' the best that most can hope for is a life of turning tricks. Sirena is first taken in by Valentina " It was she who informed him of the prices for work". However valentina comes the closest in being a real mother to Sirena evident in her unselfish actions and sacrifice of her own life for Sirena.
1. What is the significance of the name Sirena Selena in the text and what role does it play in the events of the novel?
2. " Well it looked like the whole of the Puerto Rican male population was performing an Act of Contrition that night, praying at home with their wives and kids- you know, ' the family that prays together stays together."Many if not all of the characters in the novel , have suffered tremendous pain from the rejection of family members who cannot accept their sexuality. What is the impact of this rejection on the characters lives and how does it create more victims ?
3" Love is bad in this life. It's bad for anyone, but for a loca , it's death." What is the significance of this line in the text? In what way is love death?
4 The novel shifts between the past and present. We learn about the past of Sirena as we get further and further into the novel. Also many questions that may have arise while reading the text are answered only after reading several chapters after. Why does Febres organize the novel in this manner and how does it affect how we read the novel and our relationship and understanding of the characters? If he had done other wise would it have changed the novel in any way?
Bevern Brackin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In response to your question #3, I believe that either by the high incidence of STD's (at the time) amongst the gay and transgender community in addition to the numerous cases of men who cannot come to terms with their true sexuality and prefer ending the lives of those who can, love is lethal!
ReplyDelete"But still, I want to dedicate this show to them, to those men who still don't know what they are, but with any luck will find out tonight." (p.86)
Response to question 2-
ReplyDeleteThe thing about this novel that really struck a chord with me was how all of the "locas" were extremely vunerable, and I think the rejection of their family members made it even more tragic. In response to the rejection by their families, these gay/ transgender men formed their own families, like Martha/Sirena, Valentina/Sirena's mother daughter relationship,or Dona Adelina's refuge for boys.
Both Martha and Valentina treated Sirena like a son/daughter, but Sirena knew Martha was using him, and Valentina died tragically because she couldn't afford to support him and her drug habit at the same time.
Leocadio's mother obviously loved him, but she made the decision to leave him at Dona Adelina's because of his tendencies, and he is now vunerable to the other boys, and it seems he will be the next one to be exploited by Martha.
The flashbacks to happier family times create a sense that if only these boys were not the way they were, they would be happier because they would be cared for and not at the mercy of old men (Hugo/Sirena) or easily exploited (Leocadio/Martha). The flashbacks to Sirena and his grandmother or Leocadio and his mother at the beach are there to show the reader how in essence, these are just little boys who need their families.