Helena Maria Viramontes

Voices from the Gaps Article on Viramontes

In the short story "Cariboo Café" the theme revolves around different character perspectives on undocumented immigrants; at a higher level the theme also seems to concentrate on family connections. The café owner's character is constantly reminded of the past; he sees his son, who died in Vietnam, in everything. He sees his son in Paulie, the ex-con who is a morning regular at the Cariboo Café, his son would be Paulie's age if he survived. He also sees him in the little boy that comes in with his mom and sister. The owner sympathizes with anyone that keeps his son's memory alive. The owner is also desperate for his estranged wife's counsel, remembering the good advice she gave him, the good advice he misses and believes he cannot make decisions without. He is living in the present, but part of him continues in the past.

In "Neighbors" the story's theme revolves around the solitary lives of two older people and their personal demons. Aura Rodriguez and Fierro are neighbors who live separate existences even though they live within the same fenced-in area on a shared plot of land. My focus will be on Fierro, who, similar to the owner of the Cariboo Café, seems to be imprisoned by memories of his past, specifically his deceased son, Chuy. Fierro lives alone and only has the company of his memories, but his memories are not good companions; they give him "heartache" (p. 113). Whenever he walks into town he is faced with memories of Chuy as a child, and is also faced with the location where Chuy died. His son died at nineteen from a fatal stabbing near the theater in town. Fierro was very close to his son; memories of a young Chuy that admires his father and a teenage Chuy that rebels against his father are constant in his thoughts. His son died trying to protect himself with a 2 by 4 against three men in an alley; Fierro pried the 2 by 4 from his deceased son and whittled a cane from the wood. He used the cane as his physical support and it was also an emotional connection, but it shackled him to his son's death more so then to his son's life.

Both characters seem to be alone, possibly desperately alone. They don't seem to have any connection with the people who surround them. The owner of the Cariboo Café is not connected with his customers, a large percent are immigrants who do not speak English, which isolates him. This can also be seen with Fierro and his neighbor Aura, who share a common environment yet both are isolated. They are friends, but know very little about one another. The irony with Fierro and Aura is that they are isolated from the rest of the community because a tall wrought-iron fence surrounds them, but despite the fence uniting them in one common area they are also isolated individually, each home being a private sanctum. Fierro would take his separation from the world a step further by often turning off his hearing aid.

In "Cariboo Café" Viramontes wants the reader to understand the different roles that people participate in each other's existence, similar to different parts in a play; it is one stage but different experiences. We read about the undocumented immigrant children, the fear and terror they live with when faced with what has been ingrained as the "enemy," the police, who may also be "La Migra" (who may deport them). We read about the undocumented immigrant parents, who only want the best for their children's future, but also know that if the authorities find them they may be deported and separated from their children temporarily or even possibly permanently. An additional participating role is the paranoid authority who believes that even children can be spies and that they may be a threat to the United States' national security. And we also read about the outsider that may see everything, and that may even sympathize with the undocumented immigrant, but knows he can't get involved and doesn't know what to do next (the owner of the Cariboo Café).

In "Neighbors" Viramontes wants the reader to understand that there are changes during one's life. In Aura's life the younger generations has lost respect for the elderly. In Fierro's life the world is changing before his eyes and he can't keep up (which can be seen when he is crossing traffic, p.112-113). Age and experience stimulates introspection and reflection; both characters are constantly reflecting and both accept that death is near (Fierro dies in the end of the story). Even though Aura and Fierro share many commonalities there is one significant difference between them, and that is how they are handling their last stage of life. In Aura's last stage, she lives in fear. In Fierro's case, he makes an agreement with a caregiver (I have no idea if that is what she is, but caregiver is a title that suites her in this instance) that will help him enjoy his final days. Fierro is able to once again have good company, eat well, and have some joy in his life (the "caregiver" is kind and caring, and entertains him). Aura and Fierro's destination is similar, death, but each take a different road in getting there.

In "Cariboo Café" and in "Neighbors" both the owner of the Cariboo Café and Fierro share several similarities. First they are alone (neither have a spouse or children in their life); second they are isolated - the owner of the Cariboo Café not being able to communicate with many of his customers; Fierro by the tall wrought-iron fence, his lonely life, and his hearing aid. Third they have both lost a son, and were both heavily impacted by their losses (which I have to give credit to Viramontes because the loss of a child through a man's eyes -- as opposed through a woman's -- is rarely discussed). The last commonality that both characters share is their ties to the past, their inability to let go and to never move forward. Their present life is more like a dismal limbo, where everyone else can move in and out of but neither the owner of the Cariboo Café or Fierro can ever make the transition. Fierro dies, physically moving on, but the owner of the Cariboo Café still lives on, watching undocumented immigrants run from the authorities and continuing to feel helpless.

After reading both The Cariboo Café and Miss Clairol, I am left with the feeling of having stepped into vividly painted, yet very realistic personal landscapes. In each story Viramontes makes the reader feel the characters' pain and angst, and in some cases causes the reader to experience a slight sense of uneasiness. She also utilizes some universal themes that are easily identifiable in the Latino culture. Many Latinos, especially those of the Roman Catholic persuasion, can easily identify with Sonya's (The Cariboo Café) invocation of "See? God punished you!" as well as the general distrust of the rest of the story's characters towards law enforcement and government. Just as easily, many Latinos would be able to recognize Arlene (Miss Clairol) as a familiar figure orbiting their landscape.

The first unsettling experience in reading these stories was the difference between the titles of the stories and their actual content. To me the title The Cariboo Café invoked an image of an open-air coffee bar frequented by the likes of Hemingway and his many cats. In other words, I geared up for a story detailing exotic scenery filled with exotic people. Miss Clairol seemed to invoke images of lovely young women with flowing tresses; women entirely removed from someone inhabiting Arlene's sphere. The reference to the Miss Clairol hair product projected an image of light-hearted superficiality.

I would say that Viramontes writes in a very realistic manner, and has an ability to convey an entire spectrum of emotions. In The Cariboo Café, Viramontes takes the reader on a journey of physical as well as emotional loss. A variety of things and people are "lost" in this story. Sonya loses her house key, and then she proceeds to get lost with her brother, Macky. The Cariboo Café itself has lost most of the letters off its sign, while its cook has lost a wife and son. The patrons of the Cariboo Café lose their battle to remain in this country, whereas a mother from a Latin-American country has "lost" her child to that country's civil war. This story is of stories within a story, yet through it all, Viramontes ties the different characters to each other, and lets the reader experience these losses through each main character's eyes.

In Miss Clairol, Viramontes again presents two points of view; however, the transition between the different perspectives is not as jarring as it was in The Cariboo Café. It is clearly a story about a mother-daughter relationship; however, I got the feeling that Viramontes purposely denies the reader a complete view of what is happening in Arlene's and Champ's lives. It is as if the reader is peering in through a window and has the ability to see what's in front, but as much or as hard as the neck is craned everything else is blocked from sight.

While reading these stories I became aware that, even though they were more real than glamorous, Viramontes' character were indeed exotic. The characters are exotic in that they are foreign, and their experiences are a reflection of their foreignness. In both of these stories Viramontes deals with real and painful human experiences, and paints the characters in a not-so-flattering but oh-so-recognizable fashion.