Can a writer ever truly be separated from their works, or is the inner context of their being meticulously woven within? Often authors inject their own personal conquests subtly into their works, giving readers clues to the writers’ personal lives. Chicano writer Dagoberto Gilb has published a multitude of works ranging from short stories to full blown novels, each assuming a pattern of distinct characterization and setting. One short story in particular, “Romero’s Shirt” tells the tale of Juan Romero, a modest living Mexican American man who works hard and stresses the blessing of living in America. Through the story, Romero must take a deeper looking at his own life and contemplate whether he is truly living his life to the fullest or if
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Home to a population of over 80% Latino people, the bustling city emulates a traditional Mexican community (El Paso). Through this environment and his undocumented immigrant mother, Gilb developed a strong bond with Chicano culture, going on to study and advocate for it later in college. To this day, he continues to thrive in the Latino community by working as a writer-in-residence at the University of Houston’s Centro Victoria, a center that focuses on Mexican American literature and culture (Meyer [424]). Not only does Gilb live out these passions in his everyday work life, but they are also displayed in many of his works. Specifically, he used his strong sense of cultural awareness when writing “Romero’s Shirt.” In the story, the main character Romero talks about his life in El Paso and elements such as chile and tortillas which reflect, the very town and food that had molded his childhood. Gilb obviously wanted to reflect his own lifestyle by setting it in his hometown. Romero describes his lucky experience in the town and says that he, “[...] constantly had to discipline himself by remembering the past, how his parents lived” (Gilb [259]). Just as Gilb’s mother was a Mexican citizen who worked hard to make it in the United …show more content…
The route to success did not begin right away for Gilb, but his life as a whole led him to fulfilling his American Dream. When describing his youth, Gilb notes that he, “[...] was not precocious in matters of literature” (Meyer [421]). He never intended to be a writer, admitting that he hardly even read books as a teenager. But nevertheless, he began reading on the job, eventually enrolling himself at a Junior College and transferring to the University of California. Still yet, he did not major in writing or literature, but instead, philosophy and religious studies. While being interviewed for Publisher’s Weekly, Gilb noted that he, “[...] saw college as his salvation, believing it would lead to a prestigious white-collar career” (Bahr). He used this new sense of encouragement to drive his life towards his dream of being a successful writer who accurately displayed the hard working, Latino middle class. The driving force behind this was his want to “[...] validate the very existence and presence of Latinos in the United States who never before had the opportunity to read about their own unique experiences” (Meyer [425]). Gilb relentlessly used his platform to push his dream of Latino literature to the public, providing subtle education to those who had developed stereotypes. Just as Gilb worked hard in his everyday life to achieve his goals and work
Home to a population of over 80% Latino people, the bustling city emulates a traditional Mexican community (El Paso). Through this environment and his undocumented immigrant mother, Gilb developed a strong bond with Chicano culture, going on to study and advocate for it later in college. To this day, he continues to thrive in the Latino community by working as a writer-in-residence at the University of Houston’s Centro Victoria, a center that focuses on Mexican American literature and culture (Meyer [424]). Not only does Gilb live out these passions in his everyday work life, but they are also displayed in many of his works. Specifically, he used his strong sense of cultural awareness when writing “Romero’s Shirt.” In the story, the main character Romero talks about his life in El Paso and elements such as chile and tortillas which reflect, the very town and food that had molded his childhood. Gilb obviously wanted to reflect his own lifestyle by setting it in his hometown. Romero describes his lucky experience in the town and says that he, “[...] constantly had to discipline himself by remembering the past, how his parents lived” (Gilb [259]). Just as Gilb’s mother was a Mexican citizen who worked hard to make it in the United …show more content…
The route to success did not begin right away for Gilb, but his life as a whole led him to fulfilling his American Dream. When describing his youth, Gilb notes that he, “[...] was not precocious in matters of literature” (Meyer [421]). He never intended to be a writer, admitting that he hardly even read books as a teenager. But nevertheless, he began reading on the job, eventually enrolling himself at a Junior College and transferring to the University of California. Still yet, he did not major in writing or literature, but instead, philosophy and religious studies. While being interviewed for Publisher’s Weekly, Gilb noted that he, “[...] saw college as his salvation, believing it would lead to a prestigious white-collar career” (Bahr). He used this new sense of encouragement to drive his life towards his dream of being a successful writer who accurately displayed the hard working, Latino middle class. The driving force behind this was his want to “[...] validate the very existence and presence of Latinos in the United States who never before had the opportunity to read about their own unique experiences” (Meyer [425]). Gilb relentlessly used his platform to push his dream of Latino literature to the public, providing subtle education to those who had developed stereotypes. Just as Gilb worked hard in his everyday life to achieve his goals and work