English
and “The Silent Dancing” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
The two stories under consideration are rather different in style, plot and message, but we can still find some resemblance.
Both of the stories tell us about the experience of authors connected to the childhood: “The Silent Dancing” is about the life of a Puerto Rican family and one particular party they had organized. The story of each family member is described in detail through his or her dialogs and actions. In the form of a silent movie, this looks even more appealing because it sends us back to the early years of the authors life. It is apparent that this story, out of two, is more descriptive and longer; it is full of different characters. “The Santa Ana”, on the other hand, reminds of a newspaper article, but this is what makes it look like the events described are very real. “The Santa Ana”, too, is telling us about a certain meaningful experience of the author’s life. The story tells the reader about the wind that takes place in Los Angeles – a phenomenon that causes a lot of trouble for the region. The author’s feelings about the wind are uneasy and she often talks a lot about health problems and depressions. She even mentions that there is no “weather” in the regions and that everything that happens is rather misleading.
The similarity between the two stories is that they both describe certain agitating feelings connected with the places where they used to live: whether it is the family members with their own stories full of secrets or the strong wind that affect all the inhabitants of the town. All this conveys the idea that life can be unpredicted and different and that humans are not able to control certain things.
