Manny Hernandez: A Life Comparison
Manuel Hernandez, or Manny, is a 14 year old latino boy. He is the main character and narrator of Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez. Now, while I’m not a narrator nor a main character, I immediately found myself connecting with his potent personality, and, frankly, his situation. Manny has had a strenuous childhood, never feeling like he fit in. Say that be his family, or community, he has always felt like an outcast.
Manny often felt like he had a gap in his life that he needed to fill. The uncertainty that no one would be there for him when he was in need stung like a knife in the back. He had to find someone who would support him through both thick and thin. Unfortunately, Manny wasn’t always so great at picking friends. Near the end of Parrot in the Oven, he joined a gang. I can relate to this struggle. When I was younger, I tended to …show more content…
Victor Martinez creatively painted a troubling picture of abuse and neglect in the Hernandez household. From Mrs.Hernandez being held at gunpoint by her husband, to Manny’s brother, Nardo, coming home inebriated. Manny would never have someone he could trust in his home, and that left him feeling alone and dismissed. This loneliness has also echoed throughout my own life. Ever since I was a baby, I’ve felt like people were always leaving me. My biological father left my mother and I when I was just a year old. I was adopted by my adoptive father a couple months later. My family and I lived together in harmony for only two years before my mom first left. She returned about half a year later, a new boyfriend in tow. My siblings and I moved in with her, while my adoptive father, the only real dad I had ever known, left to live in another state. At this point in time, I was only five years old. I still clearly remember the struggle my father had raising three children on his
Manuel Hernandez, or Manny, is a 14 year old latino boy. He is the main character and narrator of Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez. Now, while I’m not a narrator nor a main character, I immediately found myself connecting with his potent personality, and, frankly, his situation. Manny has had a strenuous childhood, never feeling like he fit in. Say that be his family, or community, he has always felt like an outcast.
Manny often felt like he had a gap in his life that he needed to fill. The uncertainty that no one would be there for him when he was in need stung like a knife in the back. He had to find someone who would support him through both thick and thin. Unfortunately, Manny wasn’t always so great at picking friends. Near the end of Parrot in the Oven, he joined a gang. I can relate to this struggle. When I was younger, I tended to …show more content…
Victor Martinez creatively painted a troubling picture of abuse and neglect in the Hernandez household. From Mrs.Hernandez being held at gunpoint by her husband, to Manny’s brother, Nardo, coming home inebriated. Manny would never have someone he could trust in his home, and that left him feeling alone and dismissed. This loneliness has also echoed throughout my own life. Ever since I was a baby, I’ve felt like people were always leaving me. My biological father left my mother and I when I was just a year old. I was adopted by my adoptive father a couple months later. My family and I lived together in harmony for only two years before my mom first left. She returned about half a year later, a new boyfriend in tow. My siblings and I moved in with her, while my adoptive father, the only real dad I had ever known, left to live in another state. At this point in time, I was only five years old. I still clearly remember the struggle my father had raising three children on his