I began reading the short stories by Emilia Bazan today, and one in particular, although sad, stood out to me because it made me think of my grandparents. The story is “El pañuelo”, a sad story about Cipriana, an orphan who is forced to make a living at a port at the young age of 12. When I first read the title, it made me think of my grandfather at first because he would always have his own pañuelo. But after reading the story, I couldn’t help but think of grandfather. At the age of 16, she was kicked out of the house for getting pregnant with my grandfather because my great-grandfather was very, very traditional. As I read the story, I would make parallels between the loneliness Cipriana must have felt without her parents and the loneliness my grandmother must have felt. The story brought about a sense of empathy within me because of the connections. At the same time, Cipriana tried to go on with her life and take care of herself by selling seashells for example. My grandmother, while she had the help of some extended family, also had to grow up fast and start working for herself. I thought it was very interesting that this simple short story could bring about these personal connections and feelings within me, and I just wanted to share with everyone the tangential thoughts that came to me while reading it.
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Marco, I feel what you are expressing. My grandparents emigrated from Russia and had hard lives when they first came to the US. Many privations, and much loneliness. My mother's mother, for example, left her father's home when she was 12 years old, because she wanted to go to America to be with other members of her family who had already crossed over. But when she left her father behind, she left the father she adored. How much loneliness she must have felt especially in her young teenage years, without her father (who never ended up coming over). One reason Pardo Bazan's writing can be so resonant for many of us, is that she tells stories about real hardships that people really experienced. The sorts of things that are what people really struggle against and deal with.
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