Summary Of So Far From God

Oghenetejiri Arigbe
EN 250C: Literature Matters
May 5th, 2017 Taking a shot at critiquing critique. The article Ana Castillo's So Far from God: Intimations of the Absurd by B.J. Manríquez appeared in the magazine College Literature published by West Chester University which analyzes and reviews the novel So Far from God by Ana Castillo. In the article, Manríquez argues that Castillo's different methods of writing points to the absurdness in the novel. Castillo uses language, the characters in the book, and the plot of the novel to reveal her use of basic literature genres in an absurd manner. She also points out Castillo’s use of burlesque to “highlight the characters' struggle against cultural inequities, stereotypes, and macho politics to produce ironic allegory.” (Manríquez, 2002, p.38) The use of exaggeration also extends to Castillo’s use of language. She argues that Castillo’s use of exaggerative language really emphasizes the emotion of the characters. We can see these illustrated with the way Castillo uses selective words to name the main characters. Sofi’s four daughters are symbolically named: Fe which means faith, Caridad meaning charity, Esperanza meaning hope, and La
Manríquez is an interesting, yet critical read about the novel So Far from God and the way it was written. The idea of genre crossing is a new idea. Manríquez sheds light on how conventions from different genres of literature like burlesque, folk literature, social and political observations, poetry, sarcasm of magical pragmatism and black humor was used in the novel which I have never given thought to before reading this article. This article written by Manríquez shed slight on issues of race, feminism, religion, and culture which is evident in the novel and connects them. This article reflects Ana Castillo’s So Far from God as piece of diverse literature which questions literature and its