The Rain God By Arturo Islas Lead Discussion

The Rain God By: Arturo Islas Lead Discussion by: Victoria Breen & Romy Garcia Part 2: pages 53 -110

Significant Events �Miguel Grande & Juanita have their 25 th Anniversary �Uncle Felix is killed by a soldier who he tried to make a move on �Miguel Grande and Lola have a longterm affair �Miguel Grande and Juanita separate and get back together

Latino Assimilation in America �“The man pronounced his name in English and momentarily confused him” (79) �“"In Spain, home of some of their ancestors, a civil war was going on. They barely noticed. They were Americans now, even if privately and among themselves they still called each other chicanitos" (59) �http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=3 R 6 FXZ_lp. Qo

Preconceptions that males are automatically gay when they have feminine qualities �“‘All good dancers are queer and you know it’ Miguel shared the macho’s distrust of any man who was too handsome or danced too well” (70) ◦ ◦ ◦ guys who do hair guys who stand up for women rights guys that watch romantic movies “chick flicks” guys who care about their appearance guys who have piercings other than on their ears ◦ guys who model- remember that clip we watched in class last week

Homophobia that lingered in the court systems �“She sat down facing him as he explained how the evidence convincingly showed that her father was in fact ‘excuse me, ma’am’ a homosexual and that he had seduced other men, some of whom were willing to testify during a trial. the attorney thought it useless to subject the family to the shame and embarrassment of such an investigation. The young soldier had acted in ‘selfdefense and understandably, ’ given the circumstances, and there was no reason to prosecute him” (87)

Relationships: Miguel Grande and Lola • “She made love to him better than any woman he had known, so he did not mind her unhousewifely ways" (58) • “He could not understand how she could speak to him like that. He wanted to kill her and felt she should be begging him for mercy after all he had given up for her. He did not know why he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that the things she did hurt him deeply” (71)

Relationships: Miguel Grande and Juanita �“When Miguel returned to her Juanita welcomed him back with open arms. She promised herself to learn what pleased him in bed and to devote more of her free time to him stead of to friends and social activities” (103) �“Juanita did not understand her husband, but she obeyed him” (95)

Relationships: Miguel Grande and Miguel Chico �“It pained him to see his son walk, and eventually he invented ways to make a man of the adolescent boy. One device had been to ask Miguel Chico’s school friends to engage him in fistfights to that he might learn to defend himself” (96)

Discussion Questions �What other relationships did you find interesting in this portion of the reading and how can they relate to your personal experiences?

Discussion Questions �If Uncle Felix had been killed for homosexual attempts in todays society, how would society react? How would or wouldn’t it be different?