Pilon By Cisneros Analysis

Pilon by Cisneros was very intriguing to me. The personal narrative seemed to speak to me about how liberating it can be to be carefree like a child. The author describes the state a little girl is in right before she starts to grow into a young woman. At this age the girl is no longer a baby, so her mother is not dressing her everyday. Yet she is not old enough yet to care how she looks to others. Therefore, while she might not look well kept, but she is always happy. Cisneros refers to this state as close to being a spirit, since the girl is not yet aware she has a body. This could account for how children often neglect safety, because they do not think about the physical consequences of participating in a dangerous act.

She starts the story with a description of a man playing the organ on the street. She describes how people would toss him a few coins because he reminds them of something often bittersweet. I think what the music reminds her of is this stage in her life. It was the happiest time of her life, yet it's bitter because she misses it and wishes she could return to this stage. At the end of this short story she describes all of these things as "all bound together in a county I am homesick for, that doesn't exist anymore. A county I invented. Like all emigrants caught between here and there." I think she is referring to her home
The literal interpretation of this poem is a little girl who uses her finger to write her name in thick layers of dust, and her mother comes along and dusted her signature away. However, I think the figurative meaning is as a young woman who wanted to be an author she made a point to get her opinion on paper whenever she could, in attempt to try to make her mark on the world. However, her mother discouraged her dream. Her mother did not strive for individuality as Alvarez did. Instead, she spent her life trying to maintain a clean appearance, wiping away all signs of