The Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes Essay - 476 Words

The Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes In The Hammon and the Beans author Amà ©rico Parà ©des writes about the problems of Mexican-American children growing up in poverty. The story takes place around 1926 in a fictional south of Texas setting of Jonesville-on-the-Grande, under the shadows of Fort Jones. This setting is reminiscent with Parà ©des home of Brownsville and historic Fort Brown, established in 1846 to house troops during the Mexican-American War and later used to defend the border. The story features child characters who observe, but do not fully understand the uneasiness of the adult world of south Texas. Our young, unnamed narrator sets the tone by describing his home which is his grandfathers dirty, yellow,†¦show more content†¦Chonita is one of his playmates as well as a family friend. Her mother did his familys laundry for use of a one-room shack on a vacant plot of land belonging to his grandfather. Chonita plays a rather large role in this young boys memory. He describes how after the posts flag went down every night, Chonita would walk to the soldiers mess halls and watch through the screen as they stuffed themselves. She would stand there until they were finished so that the cooks would grant her the leftovers. He had just moved into the neighborhood when a boy invited him to hear Chonita make a speech. He saw she was a scrawny girl with dirty feet. All of the children were looking on as she stood atop an alley fence. Everyone was shouting, Speech! Speech! Let Chonita make a speech! Talk in English Chonita! She yelled out, Give me the hammon and the beans! Give me the hammon and the beans! Every evening Chonita would make her speech as the young boy waited until they could go play. One day the young boy fell ill and when he was cured Chonita was not around. As he grew through the 1930s he thought of her and the hammon and the beans often. Eventually, he learned that Chonita had passed away from an illness. The night of Chonitas death, everyone was really sad, but the young boy just felt strange. The doctor told the boys father that ChonitasShow MoreRelated Use of Tone, Irony and Humor in The Hammon and the Beans Essay947 Words   |  4 Pages Use of Tone, Irony and Humor in The Hammon and the Beansnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; Ernest Hemingway once explained, A writers problem does not change. He himself changes and the world he lives in changes but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes a part of the experience of the person who reads it. The attitude and projection with which the authorRead MoreThe Chicano Of Chicano Literature882 Words   |  4 Pageshand, a border is a general dividing point between two countries that stop people and things from crossing over. Children that live near the border live with the consequences of losing their identity and suffer. In the story â€Å"The Hammon and the Beans† by Americo Paredes he talks about how the children live in the poverty. The story takes place in the early 1920s in a small Mexican town right above the American side United States Border called Jonesville-on the Grand. During The Mexican-American war