Green Chile Jimmy Baca Summary

“Green Chile” The poem “Green Chile,” by Jimmy Baca, is more than what it seems. The poem is literally about two chile peppers, a green one and a red one. Yes, they are both very similar in the aspect of being peppers, but they are very different because of the symbolism that each of them holds. The speaker of the poem is a grandson that loves on pepper over another, and the author describes that well in his poem. The imagery in this poem seems to be very sensual in some areas, and in others it just shows the setting of the poem. (last sentence). Although the basic meaning of the poem is about two different types of chiles, the symbolism within it is very strong. The poem includes a grandson that dislikes green chile over red chile. When
With the speaker eating the green chile, he proves that he has respect for his grandmother. This shows that he is a respectful man and that he does not like to disappoint his elders. The images used to describe the green chile are very graphic. When the grandmother is preparing the green chile, the author described it as, “my grandmother takes sensuously in her hand, / rubbing its firm glossed sides, / caressing the oily rubbery serpent, / with mouth -watering fulfillment, / fondling its curves with gentle fingers” (20-24). This could be a type of symbolism for some other situation. It seems that the grandmother could have been in love, or even just happy with herself while cooking. On the other hand, the author wrote, “It’s bearing magnificent and taut / as flanks of a tiger in mid-leap, / she thrusts her blade into and cuts it open,” (25) this could mean that the grandmother is not upset or even been disappointed with love. The images the reader views with the grandmother are a bit confusing because the grandmother switches moods, from happy to upset. Also, there is sensual imagery used in the poem is very confusing. The author wrote, “Ah, voluptuous, masculine, / an air of authority and youth simmers” (15-16). With these lines, the author describes a type of pleasure coming from the presence of the man. The author also wrote, “From its swan-neck stem, tapering to a flowery
The reader understands that the theme has to do with the relationship that the grandson has with his grandmother. The speaker is able to do things that he thought he would never do for any person. He ate something that was too spicy for him, and he ate it without having to complain about the spice that came from it. He never complained to his grandmother about not wanting to eat the chile. The only thing he did was “and I hiss and drink a tall glass of cold water” (38). He took care of himself and did not let his grandmother down by not eating the food that she provided for him. With this poem, the point was that no matter what, a person always does something they do not want to do for the person that they love. When people have to deal with love and sacrifice, whether it be one at a time or even both they have someone, it could be your mom, dad, brother, girlfriend, boyfriend, you are able to sacrifice anything to make them happy. The poem “Green Chile” is about just that, he writes about the sacrifice he has done for his grandmother and about the ways he did it over respect for