Article Review of Menu Girls by Denise Chavez Essay

Article Review of Menu Girls by Denise Chavez While reading through The Last of the Menu Girls by Denise Chavez, the complexity of the novel made itself evident. There are many different levels to Chavezs novel. The article by Rowena Rivera brought many of those hidden themes and ideas to the surface. The article gives the reader a quick overview of Denise Chavez as an author. Rivera then goes into many of the hidden themes and ideas in the novel, such as the importance of memories. She also goes on to discuss things like the constant interlocking of Spanish and English. Rivera begins her paper by simply giving the reader a list of many of the works Denise Chavez has written during her literary career. It is through this list†¦show more content†¦There is one particular statement that Rivera makes that was interesting, which is that memories are represented in Rocios home by these forgotten objects, these fragments of past lives (7). She also brings up that the past in Shooting Stars is best described as a memory that is constantly changing. Rocio is writing about Diana and Eloisa as she sees them as an adult instead of the insecure girl she once was. Rivera also brings up the importance of girls like Eloisa and Diana. One of the first things Rivera brings up the girls importance to Rocio. To Rocio, Eloisa and Diana were the embodiment of womanhood. They stood for everything that Rocio desired to be. They were beautiful, confident, and mysterious. Rivera also brings up the fact that even the girls names were created to exemplify beau ty. For example, Eloisa is compared to the goddess Venus. Diana is named for the goddess of the moon. The names were created on purpose to show the girls beauty and mystery. In the end, though, Rivera states that Chavez twists the plot around by showing Diana when she gets older. Diana is no longer this beautiful goddess. She is, at the end, a wrinkled, moustached, old maid. In the end, Rocio no longer sees these girls as romantic figures to be adored, but as real women with tragic lives. Another important point that Rivera brings up is Chavezs unique literary style of meshing together the English