Ysrael

I think that the details of this story are being told from an adult looking back. In the second paragraph of the story the narrator says " Mami shipped me and Rafa out to campo every summer" -showing the reader that this is someone who is looking back on his childhood experiences.

Its kind of ironic that while Ysrael is severly disfigured, he is still quite confident of his abilities. He boasts about himself and his talent as a wrestler stating that he "almost went to the Captiol to wrestle". I think that through Rafa's attitude at this point in the story, its easy to see that he is a bit jealous of Ysrael. I also think that certain of aspects of this story are easy to relate to for many of us because there is always that one person growing up who is made fun of by the others for their physcial apperance. It is these same people however, just as Ysrael was able to display, who are the strongest. Although it is Ysrael who should be the one that is insecure, it is actaully Rafa who displays this characteristic more. When people act the way that Rafa did in this story its clear how insecure they are with themselves. They have to scruitinize other people in order to make themselves feel good. The fact that he always has his brother following him around and telling him what to do also shows his insecurities. He has to always be in control of every situation.

The saying dont judge a book by its cover, came to mind while reading this story. Sometimes things arent always what they seem to be. Someone could be beautiful on the outside but an ugly person on the inside, while the person who is not so nice to look at on the outside can have the biggest heart out of anyone.

How easy is it to be persuaded into doing things we know arent right? How can a person want so desperatly to make themselves fit in at the expensive of another person feelings. What does this say about society and how some children are brought up?