An Analysis Of Natalie Diaz's Why I Hate Raisins

Poverty, hunger and alcoholism are common characteristics in the Native American culture that are often overlooked by people. Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money to take care of basic needs, such as food, clothing and housing. The problem with poverty is that it inevitably leads to worse predicaments such as hunger, especially on a Native American reservation. Due to the presence of poverty in Native American Culture, there is insufficiency in food resources which results in an increase in the rates of illnesses as well as a rise in Native Americans becoming heavy drinkers. Hunger is a compelling need or desire for food. It may also be defined as one of the main problems of human existence. Despite this, there are …show more content…
Hunger and poverty are characteristic of many Native American communities that are also marginalized. Poetry is one avenue that has been used to express discontent on how Native Americans feel and how they face the situations they experience on a daily basis. Natalie Diaz is a poet who has tried to explore the different harsh conditions that the Native American people face, especially hunger and poverty. Many of the poems in her work “When My Brother Was an Aztec”, highlight these elements. Natalie Diaz’s particular study of, “No More Cake Here” and, “Why I Hate Raisins” forms the foundation for delving into the themes of poverty and Hunger amongst the Native Americans. Through Natalie Diaz’s eyes a better understanding of what the community and other people go through is …show more content…
In most communities on the reservation within the Native culture, alcoholism is part and parcel of everyday life. This is seen as one of the biggest problems that the Native Americans indulge in. Many of Alexie’s stories within this book show that the prevalence of alcohol among Native Americans can be influenced in different ways—mostly by societal misconception, social rules, norms, customs and traditions that have normalized drinking among certain tribes. Alexie brings out this theme with the purpose of revealing how the lives of Native Americans are destroyed with alcohol. A primary tactic he uses to convey this theme is by developing his characters as alcoholic abusers. The storylines that he narrates include “A train is an order of Occurrence,” “Amusements”, “Somebody kept saying Powwow”, and the “Only Traffic signal in the Reservation”. Cruelty, misjudgments and making of tragic mistakes happen after taking alcohol and this is depicted by many characters that appear in these short stories. On the other hand, Alexie attempts to show how petty and tragic mistakes could be averted by avoiding the use of alcohol. Personality is also created through the decision of using or avoiding alcohol and this aspect is also the driving force behind the messages being spearheaded by Alexie. A good example of