reliving memories
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Reliving Memories
Luis Rodriguez is a Mexican American writer who is known across the country for his many accomplishments, but for one in particular is his novel, Always Running. Written to narrate to his son the life as a gang member, Luis Rodriguez transfers his story through this writing. In doing so his culture comes out and what it truly means to him to be a Mexican American as he refers to it a lot through out the book referring to the nature of his culture. Along with this came the gang member side; living on the streets, fighting for a living. While Luis shares the vivid details of those experiences of a cholo gang member, he also shares why these experiences are important to his life as an adult living out side of the gang member mentality.
The life of a gang member is a brutal, tragic life, but Rodriguez describes the life in such a way it is almost as if it happens in front of me with such vivid detail, sometimes almost too much. Rodriguez often retells events in his life with uncommon honesty such as the night he spends with his girlfriend, Roberta. As they spent the whole night together, engaging in an intimate moment, "Her fingers kneaded the top of my penis, hard and wet with anticipation."(128) Luis tries to put a visual image in the reader's head to give a better understanding and to be more interesting. There is no more that can be learned then what he has just stated as he says it all in the greatest detail that can be said...