The short story “Abuela Invents the Zero” by author Judith Ortiz Cofer is a very good example that shows both the similarities and differences of two characters, which is Connie, our main character, and her grandmother named Abuela. For example, both Connie and her grandmother Abuela are related to each other and are family. However, Abuela was originally born and raised in Puerto Rico for a majority of her life, while Connie was born and raised in the United States of America. In fact, when Connie mentions her grandmother while trying to explain to the reader why her grandmother is mad at her for making her “feel like a zero”, she says “It all began with Abuela coming up from the Island for a visit—her first time in the United States” (Cofer
…show more content…
The reason why we know that Connie must speak two languages but her grandmother is only fluent at one is when her father tells Connie that if she could drive her grandmother to the mass at church at 10AM, which the service will be only spoken in Spanish. This is mentioned in paragraph 9, which says, “The mass in Spanish is at ten sharp tomorrow morning, entiendes?” (Cofer 9). It seems unusual if Connie and her grandmother went to a Spanish mass despite if they both spoke English… Wouldn’t an English-speaking event be more convenient and popular, due to it being a language many people speak in the United States? In addition, when Connie’s grandmother scolds her for treating Abuela so poorly, she says it in Spanish. “She says in Spanish, You made me feel like a zero, like a nothing.” (Cofer 16). Once again, her grandmother seems to speak Spanish more often than English to Connie and the others. However, it may be her grandmother’s personal preference to speak in Spanish rather than English while in public and in private. Abuela could speak English but may prefer not to or her capability of speaking it might not be adequate enough in her opinion. Overall, Connie and her grandmother do have similarities between both of them but with obvious differences. In fact, they’re quite similar but they’re not the
The reason why we know that Connie must speak two languages but her grandmother is only fluent at one is when her father tells Connie that if she could drive her grandmother to the mass at church at 10AM, which the service will be only spoken in Spanish. This is mentioned in paragraph 9, which says, “The mass in Spanish is at ten sharp tomorrow morning, entiendes?” (Cofer 9). It seems unusual if Connie and her grandmother went to a Spanish mass despite if they both spoke English… Wouldn’t an English-speaking event be more convenient and popular, due to it being a language many people speak in the United States? In addition, when Connie’s grandmother scolds her for treating Abuela so poorly, she says it in Spanish. “She says in Spanish, You made me feel like a zero, like a nothing.” (Cofer 16). Once again, her grandmother seems to speak Spanish more often than English to Connie and the others. However, it may be her grandmother’s personal preference to speak in Spanish rather than English while in public and in private. Abuela could speak English but may prefer not to or her capability of speaking it might not be adequate enough in her opinion. Overall, Connie and her grandmother do have similarities between both of them but with obvious differences. In fact, they’re quite similar but they’re not the