Dahlia Suiter

Ms. Colleen

Humanities

27 October 2017

When I Was Puerto Rican Final Reading Questions

In the novel, Santiago focused on many themes. One in particular that I thought was

interesting was identity.

Identity was a huge part of the book, as Negi faced problems fitting into certain groups at

school, and even in her own family. At a young age, Negi wants to be a jibara, or a rural,

mountain-dweller, since she sees the term as a compliment, or something honorable. However,

her mother tells her not to be a jibara, and Negi soon learns why; when she goes to school, kids

call her a jibara in a derogatory way. Her identity as a jibara is criticised, so throughout the book,

she grapples with whether she should hide her past in Mancun or embrace it. Even at the tender

age when I didnt yet know my real name, I was puzzled by the hypocrisy of celebrating a people

everyone looked down on. But there was no arguing with Mami, who, in those days, was always

right (11).

Additionally, Negis relationship with religion shows how she deals with identity. Mami

and Papi are not very religious, but Esmeralda finds herself being drawn to church and prayers.

However, she feels as though she is an outsider to the church. Perhaps the most important

confusion of identity is held in the title of the book: When I Was Puerto Rican. As Negi travels to

New York, she is torn between two worlds - Puerto Rico and New York - and she must discover

what her role is. I felt disloyal for wanting to learn English, for liking pizza, for studying the

girls with big hair and trying out their styles at home, locked in the bathroom where no one could
watch (230). She also explains how she does not feel like she fits in with either of the two

groups of Puerto Ricans at school: the newly arrived Puerto Ricans and the Brooklyn Puerto

Ricans. She is in that in-between stage with the United States, just as Puerto is in an in-between

stage with the United States.

Identity also ties largely into how she is treated in her society. If Esmeralda were a male,

I believe that the story would have been entirely different. In the book, a large part of her

troubles and excitements surround the fact that she is casi senorita. Gender roles in Puerto Rico

dictate that she must get married, be a housewife, and ignore men when they catcall her on the

streets. As the eldest girl in the family, she is especially forced to understand that she must clean

and cook, just as her mother does. If she were a boy, she probably would have been able to stay a

child for a longer amount of time, or at least continue to play outside. Also, I do not think that

she would have been preyed upon by older men if she had been a boy, or not the eldest in the

family. In the book, Negi is often targeted and harassed by men. Negi takes piano lessons, but

her Mami warns Papi about the old man. When I told Mami she made a face, and that night to

she muttered to Papi about what that dirty old man is up to. You know shes casi senorita

(177).