Skip to main content

In Buried Onions by Gary Soto, who was involved in the stabbing of José and what was the resolution of the incident?

José is Eddie's high school friend who comes home to Fresno on leave from the Marines. In Chapter Four, he informs Eddie that he is soon to be shipped out to a "top secret" destination. He offers to take Eddie out for breakfast at a local Mexican restaurant called Cuca's. After finishing, they meet a black man selling onions. José agrees to buy three bags and after they go to the man's car to get the onions, Eddie sees Mr. Stiles's truck across the street. The truck had been stolen while in Eddie's possession a few days earlier. José heads off to look at the truck while Eddie goes back into the restaurant to phone Mr. Stiles. When he returns to the street, José is lying on the ground, a victim of a stabbing, presumably by the guys who stole the truck. José is taken to the hospital where he has stitches placed in his stomach and shoulder. The onions are symbolic of the misfortune and grief which pervades the novel. It is fitting that José should be purchasing onions just before the unfortunate incident.


In Chapter Seven, José is recovering from his wounds and is able to accompany Eddie and Coach (who works at the playground in Eddie's neighborhood) on a fishing trip. In this section, José reveals that he didn't know the guys who stabbed him. Eddie had originally believed that his nemesis Angel was responsible for the theft of the truck. When Eddie is involved in a fight with Angel and is injured, he turns to José who, despite his mother's objections, helps Eddie by bringing him ice for his bruised back. Later, he accompanies José to the hospital for the removal of José's stitches. José admits that he feels pretty good after being treated. Eddie claims that José was "getting better" right before his eyes. Soto is suggesting that José will go on with his life. He is a survivor, even though "without even leaving his country, [he] had seen enough wars to be permanently scarred." In the end, Eddie follows in the footsteps of José as he joins the military and is on his way to training at the end of the novel. Whether José was able to continue in the Marines is never stated. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more