Victoria's Blog

Everyone has been through ups and downs and had been in a very difficult saturation. At some point you forgive the person who put you through all of the pain and difficulties. Victor Martinez in his story “Parrot in the oven” and his main character Manny and Kesha and her song “Praying” Have similar life’s and views.

In the song Praying it says “I am proud of who I am”. In Parrot in the oven, Manny’s father is not proud of his son, in fact Manny’s father says “I don’t care about you”. “Oh sometimes I pray for you at night”. In Parrot in the oven, Manny’s prays that his father will step up be a dad and become a better man. Kesha says “II thank you for strong I have become”. Manny in Parrot in the oven had to become strong for his family. His older sister was out working, brother out drinking and losing jobs, father out drinking and being abusive, mother that keeps cleaning like her problems will go away. So Manny had to become strong to take care of his younger sister.

Both Kesha and Manny are different. Kesha left the monster that kept causing her pain, “I wish you farewell”. Manny has to live with the person that caused him pain. Kesha escaped, but Manny is still living through it. Kesha is trying to ruin her monster “When I am finished, they won’t even know your name”. Manny’s trying to get his father to clean up get a job and bring in money for the family.

Both Kesha and Manny have had dark and bad past. We can guess both have been through abuse. Through it all both Kesha and Manny have seen the light and made it through alive. Both may have permeant scars but will be alright.

              In the story “Parrot in the oven” by Victor Martinez, we can assume that Manny has had a hard life. Manny is abused by his father, the rest of Manny’s family ignores him. All Manny wants is to get his family back together. The only way to do this is for Manny to join a gang. Find out how Manny deals with the disrespect, abuse, and trying to get his family back together.

                The beginning Manny talks about how he gets zero respect in his neighborhood with a abusive father. Manny’s father thinks of everyone as money. If you were a Thousand, Hundred, Ten, Five, or One dollar person, Manny’s father will respect you. After that are dimes, nickels, and pennies. Manny’s father thinks of his on family as pennies, and if your pennies he treats you like dirt.

It is clear to see that Manny’s father does not care about his family. In the book it says ” dad you’re going to get into trouble then what will happen to use.” “I don’t care what happens to you.” This clearly indicates that Manny’s father does not want his family.

I’m absolutely certain that Manny’s father does not care about his wife if he does not care about his children. In the book on page 57-58 it says “I had it up to hear with that witch”. Implying that Manny’s mom, his wife is a witch for trying to look good for her husband. Manny’s father did not care about going to jail for such a crime as chasing his wife around with a rifle, not even considering that they don’t have enough money to bail him out of jail. After Manny’s father got out of jail, he learned that the police took his rifle. Manny’s father spent all the money they had to pay the bills and put food on the table on getting his rifle back (page 71-72).

The day Manny’s father was released from prison, Manny’s mom ordered everyone to clean the house. She got all dressed up for him forgetting why he was in jail in the first place. When Manny’s father got home, him and Manny’s mother had a long talk about how he was going to be a better man, find him a job instead of just looking. A few weeks had pass and everything Manny’s father said he was going to do came through. Manny, father found him a job a city hall and he became a better man. All Manny’s father need was a wake up call saying “Aye if you don’t stop the emotional and verbal abuse and get a job, your wife and kids are going to leave you”. He got that wake up call and now Manny got his family back together somewhat.

My book Parrot In The Oven is in 1996  about a Mexican-American named Manny Hernandez who grew up in the projects. Manny has a hard life with an abusive father , a mother who thinks she can clean her worries away, a sister who is never there or drowns out life with music, another sister who doesn’t know whats going on, and a brother who cant keep a job. For Manny, it all went down hill after his father lost his job. The Garcia’s is bulling manny.

Manny big thing is he wants respect from his family and neighborhood. Manny tries hard to keep his family together. nothing seems to work for him. The only way to get respect is to join a gang, but manny does not want too.

               On August 12, 2011 around 5 pm, a women was rushed into the Park-view emergency room. About 5 minutes later 3 kids and one adults came into the ER waiting room. The adult, that aspired, to be a women asked for a women by the name of Tiffany saying “she was brought in about 5 minutes ago”. The nurse asked for the Relationship between her and the women named Tiffany. The women said that she was here mother.

             After the nurse looked up the name and told the family “Tiffany is still in the ER”. Around 6:30 the doctor came out and asked for “the family of Tiffany.” The mother had rose up and asked “is she alright.” The doctor said “its too early to tell.” “But, I do have some question I was wondering if you could answer them.”

            “Yes” said the women. “Has she been taking anything” said the doctor. “No”. “Okay, well I am sorry to inform of this but, your daughter has MS. MS- a infection that will mess with your brain. “Now your daughter will serve but, she will need help walking” “Thank you” said the women. ” Your welcome” said the doctor.