La Llorona Arizona Summary

When he realizes that these kids are missing and possibly abducted, he doesn’t think them important enough to call the police right away. Instead, he convinces himself that he’s not even sure it was them, and falls back asleep. Viramontes goes on to expertly emphasize all of the ways in which this Cafe owner is not superior to anyone. He is likely an alcoholic, and a terrible cafe owner who probably has quite a few health code violations, judging from the black gunk he wipes off of the top of the ketchup bottles, and the nonchalant way in which he puts away the eggs that he had left out all night. I am convinced that the Cafe owner never planned on calling the cops in regards to those two children, their fate was left to a drug addict who
The woman is a refugee from El Salvador who lost her son, possibly due to El Salvador military soldiers, who were armed and funded by the American government. The first image we get showing this brutality, is of the small children being forced to pick through and identify the body parts left over from the massacres. This is a symbol of the desensitized way in which our government dealt with these traumatized victims, who sought out refugee. Viramontes uses the story of La Llorona, a woman who threw her child in the river to get revenge on her husband, who left her for a younger woman. La Llorona then realizes what she has done and drowns herself. She is then forced to walk the earth as a ghost until she finds the body of her child. This story is often told to Hispanic children, to prevent them from wandering off. The woman figure explains herself as La Llorona, along with other races of women who search vigorously for their lost
She pleads with the government official, explaining that he is only 5 and 1/2 years old. She inquires how he could possibly be a criminal. Her son, less than 6 years old, was arrested because he was out on the streets, by himself, buying a Mango. The government labeled him a spy for the Contras. Viramontes says that he knows the lines by heart, pointing to the idea that this little boy was not the first to be arrested under such precarious circumstances. As she is observing the moths smacking against the light, “I don't understand why nature has been so cruel as to prevent them from feeling warmth” (175). Viramontes is actually talking about the government and the cold disregard towards people from other cultures and racial