Saturday, February 17, 2018
I find it interesting that in page 159, Sonia's mother said the doctors who never talked to her with any respect before, are now coming up to her and congratulating her on her daughters acceptance to Princeton. Why would the doctors give her that attention? What does attending Princeton show about the person? I think it might mean she will be getting a world class education and probably become a useful asset to the community and she was smart enough to be accepted into a Ivy League school, that many are unqualified to attend.
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I also thought that was interesting and sad, how society was, even today its still the same. l think they looked at Celina as a nobody and when they all heard that her daughter Sonia was accepted into a prestigious College they are now acknowledging Celina at her job, Celina said that doctors who never spoke to her had a nice word she is now treated like a queen. Also when Celina and Sonia went into the store to purchase the coat for college the sales lady ignored them and didn’t even look in their direction, until Celina mentioned that her daughter is going to Princeton then the sales lady was then interested in helping order the coat for Sonia. It’s terrible that some people only acknowledges others because of their status or what they have, or what they can do for another person. Another point is that when Sonia was in school passing by the nurses office the nurse made a remark to Sonia about how come she received a “likely” from Princeton but the two-top ranking girls only got a “possible” l think meaning that Sonia was not good enough for Princeton, l thought that was very cruel and that the nurse should have just congratulated Sonia instead of making that inappropriate remark!
ReplyDeleteThey did that because, prior to that they thought of her as a nobody, or just another Puerto Rican and when hearing about her daughter being accepted to Princeton all of a sudden she became relevant. I agree with you, it's truly sad that unless you have a certain status you are aren't considered as valuable to society, which is sad bc Sonia's mother works harder than most and doesn't even bring in as much pay as others who doesnt do nearly as much but, they have a higher status from society which sadly has them valued more. If Sonia never became who she is today, even if people read her memoir and she was just a "nurse" would they have the same respect for her as they do today??
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ReplyDeleteCan this been looking as racism? By then at 1970s the racism and discrimination was common in United State. The Puerto Rican community were the first one whose came to be part of North America, a nurse maybe wasn't relevant but the daughter of a nurse accepted in Princeton was meaningful, it could be that bring on the behavior change from the hospital staff toward Sonia's mom.
DeleteYes I agree, I think Sonia's acceptance to Princeton elevated her mothers' status is society, without a certain background, education and hierarchy you aren't viewed as valuable and usually treated like less than. I know in 1970 a lot of people in America were revolting against racism so, Celina being Puerto Rican probably had an impact on how society viewed her at the time.
ReplyDeleteI think we all have to recognize the racial component of this elitism, but also the economic class (which some would say can't be separated). Someone like George W. Bush was a notoriously avg. student all through his education. And yet he went to both Yale (BA) and Harvard (MBA). Obviously, this suggests that people of a certain class (like Sotomayor) can only go to an Ivy League school if they get such stellar grades that they not only beat out others, but earn scholarships. And yet every year these schools let in avg. students b/c their parents are alumni or just rich and they've donated a bunch of $ to the school. Some people move up in economic class through sheer force of will, hard work, and luck (Sotomayor, Obama, etc.). Some unfortunate people fall in class. But for most of us, we're born in the same class we die in. And that includes rich people.
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