Department of English                               Gymnasium Steglitz Berlin

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  I am Joaquin

by Rodolpho Gonzales

And now!
    I must choose
                         between
    the paradox of
victory of the spirit,
despite physical hunger,
               or
    to exist in the grasp
of American social neurosis,
sterilization of the soul
     and a full stomach.

Y iahora!
    yo tengo que escojer
                    en medio
    de la paradoja de
triunfo de espíritu,
a despecho de hambre física,
                        o
    existir en la empuñada
de la neurosis social americana,
esterilización del alma
    y un estómago repleto.

The poem has no real structure; it is loosely divided into two parts, but does not make use of any rhymes. It is printed rather differently from what one would traditionally expect, to highlight certain words or phrases. The fact that "or" in line 19 stands alone and therefore gets special attention, stresses for example the big difference between the two worlds. As the author, Rodolfo Gonzales, is a Mexican – American the poem exists in English and Spanish. This is to express the author’s feeling of not being able to shut out one of the two worlds completely.

"Joaquin" tells the reader that his ancestors managed to keep their cultural identity, but that this meant being economically ruined. On the other hand he explains that – although a full stomach is guaranteed in the modern American society – one is manipulated and inwardly destroyed by the attitudes of American people. Also, identification with the American world would mean a complete loss of cultural identity. Of course, the problem of the decision between the American and Mexican world arises.

I think the poem is rather depressing. As a European one might just about be conscious of the material problems in minority groups, but one hardly realises how badly "modern society" can destroy cultural identity.
(Anne, 10th grade, Oct. 2002)