Short Story American History Judith Ortiz Cofer

Jack Huston once said “Rule number one is ‘don’t get too attached to a character.’” He was talking about fictional characters, but the same can be said for real life. In the short story “American History,” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, a girl named Elena becomes friends with a boy named Eugene, but she is devastated when she finds out that he will be moving soon. The moral of this story is not to get so emotionally attached to someone. Elena got so attached to Eugene because of how similar they are. She says that she likes him “right away because he [sits] at the kitchen table and [reads] books for hours,” (7). She also says that the fire escape is her “favorite place to read [her] library books in the summer,” (6). Elena likes Eugene before she even meets him, because of their shared love of reading. She also is “his only friend so far” at school, (12). Being each others only friend drew them together even more so that she becomes completely dependent on him for happiness. They were given nicknames at school; “‘Skinny Bones and the Hick’” is what they are called “at school when [they] were seen
When her mother sees her leaving for Eugene’s house, she tells Elena that she is “heading for humiliation and pain,” (26). Elena’s mother warns her about going over to Eugene’s house, but she doesn’t listen. When she goes over to Eugene’s house, his mother tells her that they “won’t be in this place much longer,” and that there is “no need for him to get close to people,” (33). When she is told that Eugene will be moving soon, and that she should not get any closer to him, she is heartbroken. After she comes home from Eugene’s and goes to bed, she cries, and while she tries to pass off the tears as for the President, “the tears that came up from a deep source inside [Elena] were strictly for [her],” (36). After she is told, she starts to cry over him, even when he is not yet