Tag Archives: ordinary girls

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.

Ordinary Girls Session 4- As a whole

With this session being the last as we finally reach the ending of Ordinary girls I find myself having mixed feelings about the book. I found reading through her past experiences enjoyable however the time skips and flashbacks do get pretty confusing and hard to keep track of with Jaquira referring to the future or the past multiple times during one point. Another gripe i have with Ordinary girls was many things were left in the air and were not concluded on such as her relationship with her brother or the sexual assault she dives into at the end of the book or even regarding her mother and their relationship. However Ordinary Girls still help me captivated and interested as i wanted to know more about her experiences and how she dealt with them.

Ordinary Girls Summary 4

In the final section Jaquira graduates school and travels to Puerto Rico a few times as well. Jaquira’s mother was also in the hospital battling schizophrenia and other health problems she had. In the section “Returning” it states “as I’m lining up with all the other graduates, I will look for my family in the crowd, Abuela sitting next to Alaina, Papi, Meira, Anthony, Tio, and Chieto.” (Diaz 194) This shows how Jaquiras family supported her when she graduated even though she grew apart from her family. Jaquira was very happy and felt emotional that her family supported her and how proud they were that she graduated. Another example, in the section “Returning” it states “I can’t stop smiling. I am overwhelmed with happiness, with love, with hope, with the certainty that I will be a writer someday, but also,more than anything else, I wish my mother was here.” (Diaz 194) This shows how Jaquira became very successful all though she faced many struggles throughout her life. Jaquira is a prime example of overcoming adversity because she was doing drugs and even dropped out of school countless times, but in the end she graduated college and became a successful author. 

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.

Ordinary Girls: Relationships & The ARMY

The more I continue to read Ordinary Girls, the more invested I get.

The more we progress in the reading, the more Diaz talks about her personal relationships and friendships. I was shocked to learn that at 18 she was already married, and separated. Actually, I was shocked about everything that happened in her life at that age. It made me look back and realize all that I have been through in my 18 years of life and how grateful I am to have been raised in a stable home. 

The differences between our lives are immense, but they are familiar to me as I have heard similar stories from friends and family. Things like that happen everyday to a lot of people. Relationships are complicated, as we can see through her experiences and our own as well.

She then shares her story about her joining the ARMY after spending time doing drugs and failing her GED. I heard the military can be a great way for troubled people to change and find their paths as it gives structure, discipline and responsibility. It has never been something I was a huge fan of for myself, but it can be for others

Ordinary Girls 3

In the third section Jaquira Diaz talked about her love interest Cheito, dropping out of school, joining the military, and her grandmother Mercy passing away. Jaquira had a very difficult life growing up without both parents and facing constant abuse. In the section “Beach city” she talked about being a complete failure in life and didn’t know if she had a future. “I couldn’t really see any future at all. I was still exactly where I’d been a year before, sleeping on my fathers couch, a high school dropout with a GED and some failed community college classes.” (Diaz 150) Jaquira talks about how her life had gotten worse over time she dropped out of high school, which shows how much Jaquira struggles with drugs and her trying to keep a stable life. In “Battle stations” Jaquira talked about joining the military and how it would save her. For example, “In the navy, I became a completely different girl. I took orders, I followed the rules, and worked hard, harder than I’d worked my whole life.” (Diaz 152) This shows Jaquira clearly wanted to become a better person and joining the navy set her on the right path, she became very responsible and respectful to others. 

Jaquira’s adolescent

Throughout the pages of 142 between 247 we see more and more of Jaquira’s life growing up while she really goes where she pleases between her psychotic mother and her father who seems to not care. Throughout the reading Jaquira skips school, drinks, and fights. This is all due to the fact that Jaquira feels as though the adults in her life simply do not care about her. Seen in page 194 “Until the effect wore off and we were ourselves again—reckless, and unafraid, and pissed off at our parents for not caring that we spent most of our time on the streets or drunk or high, for being deadbeats and scutterheads.” Jaquira wishes for her father’s attention, for him to be proud of her, and wants her mother back to the way she was before her diagnosis. Reading these pages makes me feel sympathy for Jaquira for feeling as though her only chance to be free or escape was through fights and drugs. However while feeling this way I also feel she had many chances to change her ways, this is something Jaquira tells the reader as well. The countless amount of times she told her father she would change but never did. People like her grandmother, Mrs. Gold, or Paula all were there available for Jaquira to reach out to. However seeing things from Jaquira’s point of view she may have ashamed or disgraceful when it comes to talking about her experiences so far. As I read further along Ordinary Girls im hoping to see Jaquira’s path to change.

Jaquira and her relationship with her parents

For session 2 of the blog post we are told to read from pages 63 to 142, in these pages we see Jaquira’s life take a hard turn. We see her father and mother’s relationship turn even more bitter as her mother’s schizophrenia starts to effect the whole family. Her mother and father are always fighting, now to the point where her mother is physically. The reader can see Jaquira become terrified for her and her sister’s own safety especially as Jaquira learns more about the baby lolipop case. Where a deceased 3 year old baby boy was found hidden in a bush. More information about this case comes out and Jaquira learns from the news that the own baby’s mother murdered him(p128). She becomes fearful of her mother especially as we see her mother talk to herself and even get more physically abusive. However when she turns to hee father for help, the one Jaquira looks up to and puts on a pedestal, he simplies turns a blind eye. Heartbroken, Jaquira realizes that her own father will not fighting for her or her sister for custody and she has to eventually go back to fearing for her and her sister’s own safety.

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.

Mental Illnesses in Hispanic Families (Ordinary Girls)

These comments are based on pages 63-142 of Ordinary Girls.

During these passages, Diaz shared parts of her childhood including her complicated family life, difficulty with dealing with her mother’s mental illness, her time in jail, suicide attempt, her sexuality and sexual assault.

 All of these are very tough subjects, and this book is packed with emotions. In fact, I had to stop reading a couple of times to take a breath and empathize with her. What I admire is that she does not write in a way that makes us pity her, but understand her struggles. 

“Maybe the thought that my mother had done this to herself was less frightening than the idea that madness was something that could just happen to you, as it had to my mother, as it had to Mercy before her, as it had to Mercy’s father” (pg. 63 )

From this quote (and other passages), it seems like there is no true understanding of Mental Illnesses in her family, in fact she often referred to her mother’s sickness as being “crazy” and “madness”. One thing I have noticed from hispanic families is that we fail to get educated on the matter, which leads to false stereotypes.

My question to you is, how much do you think your parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles know about mental illnesses? Is there a stigma for those who do try and seek help?