Author Archives: Hamza Trawally

section 4: All so ordinary

section 4 of the book “ordinary girls” covers some of the last chapters in Diaz’s story. a big topic discussed through the end is what happens after the end. The end of movie always has that happy ever after while the more realistic ones just have that end, but what happens in the thereafter? Diaz explores this. While the ending of the initial chapters don’t really have a happy ending Diaz explores what happens further onto her story by explaining in brief where she end up going for the next crucial period in her life, which is right back to where everything in the beginning books took place, Miami. We know the distressing fates of the people around her and get few glimpses of who they were, we know how low Diaz feels as a divorce, college and military dropout, and even exclaims that she is living with her parents again. A bunch of stuff happens towards the end but the point that really drives me was that even if there’s an ending to a story no matter good or bad a question that needs to be answered is what happens after? Diaz definitely answers this in terms of her own story which follows the colorful tone of the book that its carried since the beginning.

not so two-faced girls

“in the hallway between the bathroom and my bedroom, standing right in front of me in nothing but boxer shorts, it wasn’t benny. It was J.R, a kid I went to school with. A kid who’d tortured me since we were sixth graders at fisher. He tried to kiss me once” (Diaz, 119-120) in this section we see more double sided characters that still show themselves as more one-sided than anything. in the statement I’ve shown above we hear more about J.R, a character that already seems scummy at first but then does something that seems as innocent as kiss his crush during a fun event like something out of a Disney channel episode. Even if this was the case you could tell that the fallout of that kiss would be something that is deeply regrettable for Diaz given how she acted when J.R walked around her home so brazenly. what I’m trying to say is that some of the characters in the book who we believe we understand take left turns that seems out of character for them but we realize later on that that’s just on point with who they are for better or for worse. I think that’s something Diaz will keep in mind if she chooses to reconcile with anyone at the end of her story.

New ordinary girls

a big part of life is about new beginnings, and the memoir of Diaz’s book is no exception. in this section we get a glimpse of how Diaz adjusts to her new life in Luquillo and how that it’s not only affecting her but her family as well. speaking of family we also get a deeper dive into how her family works, their dynamic. How it changed after certain events like before the parents’ divorce or after Alaina was born. To people who experience sudden changes to their families status quo at any point in their life Diaz writes this section as a way of telling those readers that they are not alone in this aspect. That the unordinary is technically ordinary in a way. She talks about her experience using words and phrases like “except in my versions the hero was always an eight-or nine-year-old curly-haired Puerto Rican girl traveling through time,” (Diaz,69). in the second paragraph of page 69 Diaz explains how she imagines herself or her own characters in her favorite books and movies as a way to cope with her life in that moment, except she goes way above beyond script even in her imagination simply because she can. Its an abnormal way of going about it but at the same time being abnormal about it is what makes it normal. Especially for those who use this same way of over imagination when coping with time.

Ordinary girls/ unordinary book

Vulnerability, and humanity. Two key terms that pops up in my head throughout my read of the book. Since this is a memoir of the author you know that there’s a variety of truth to be told but you don’t know how raw that truth will be told. There’s a scene I skipped forward to while initially skimming through the book before my first read where the author, Jaquira Diaz tells us about her experience being pat down with a number of other girls. She and the other girls being searched are seen as nothing more than numbers to be notched. With their dignity and humanity taken away for a moment in the book the author becomes vulnerable to the reader and shows just how taboo her story is. Something that I can’t say the other books have. I am excited to keep reading this book and am excited to talk about it. Its like watching a Netflix show and before a uncensored episode there’s a warning in the beginning for the viewer to have them prepare for something that needs be warned about and those episodes are always the most fun and interesting to watch.