Martin Espada Essay

Clara Napolitano 805

            Martin Espada is a Latin poet who wrote many poems and published three books of poems. In his three poems that we looked at there are many different themes, one of the biggest themes was culture. The three poems we looked at were Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877 and The New Bathroom Policy at English High School. In all three of the poems, culture was a huge theme.

            One reason culture was a theme in all of the poems was because he wrote about specific dates in Spanish history. For example, in the poem Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, it says “… I want to buy a toy pistol, put on dark eyeglasses, push my beret at an angle, comb my beard to a point…” which is describing Che Guevera, who was a leader in the Spanish Revolutionary war. Another example was in the poem Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877. The poems title describes a date in Spanish history when two Mexicans were lynched. This shows that culture was a theme in all of the poems, and one reason for this was because he talked about specific dates in Spanish history.

            Culture was a theme in all of the poems was because he wrote about discrimination. For example, in Revolutionary Spanish Lesson he writes, “… force them to chant anti-American slogans in Spanish, and wait for the bilingual SWAT team to helicopter overhead…” This shows discrimination from Spanish to Americans, which is the opposite of the other poems. It is discrimination because Republicans from Wisconsin are usually discriminate against people of other cultures so Martin Espada is being discriminate against them by assuming they will be discriminate. Another example is in The New Bathroom Policy at English High School that writes, “The boys chatter Spanish in the bathroom while the principle listens from his stall, The only word he recognizes is his own name… So he decides to ban Spanish in the bathrooms…” The principle in the poem discriminates against the boys because he doesn’t bother to understand what the boys are saying he just automatically banned Spanish in the bathroom. The last example is from Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877. He writes, “…when forty gringo vigilantes cheered the rope that snapped two Mexicanos into the grimacing sleep of broken necks…” which is discrimination because the “gringos” or Americans, cheer when the Mexicans die. This shows that culture was a theme in all three of the poems and one of the reasons for this was because Martin Espada talked about discrimination from Americans against Latinos.

            In conclusion, one big theme in all three Martin Espada poems; Revolutionary Spanish Lesson, The New Bathroom Policy at English High School and Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877, was culture. Two reasons for this are because he talked about discrimination against Latinos and because he talked about specific dates in Spanish history.