We live in a society where many people are seen as outcasts. The majority of our society sees themselves as superior and try to suppress those not like them. In Jose Emilio Pacheco's "The Queen," Adelina is seen as an outcast and is tormented by those around her. Her family and acquaintances feel that they can tease her and make her feel inferior. Even after an effort to conform to society, she is still under scrutiny and creates an imaginary relationship with a man to devote herself and to express her feelings. The author, Pacheco, also shows that he himself feels as a sort of outcast. Just as Adelina did, Stan, from Eminem's song "Stan," writes to his idol, Eminem, and begins treating him as if they were eternal soul mates. Both, Adelina and Stan, create a world where they are in charge of what happens and feel that they are part of society.
[...] We see that she is young, opened the wardrobe and selected a floral dress,” with her choice of clothing, Bugs Bunny alarm clock and her mirror framed by the Walt Disney figures. She has an active imagination and reacts to her loneliness by creating a fantasy love life. She writes letters to her imaginary love, Alberto, in a journal where she expresses many feelings. She writes about the loss of her father's love, she thought he loved her so much, but he did not want to take her to Boca del Rio. [...]
[...] The prelude of the song is the chorus from a song by Dido, tea's gone cold I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all but your picture on my wall. It reminds me, that it's not so bad.” Eminem chose this to show that even when things don't go your way that it is still not that bad. Stan harms others and himself to get revenge over, what he sees, as a lack of interest and makes himself more of an outcast by doing so. [...]
[...] When she answers the phone her brother calls her and say that she must have gained another 100 kilos; he hurts her by throwing all the things that make her different from society in her face. He teases her about getting so fat, that she will fall through the floor. She recalls memories where she says “better not to remember” in which the Osorio girls are involved. Rich Neray says she “wishes that when people ask her why she is overweight, they would actually listen to her answer. [...]
[...] She is living in a society that has pushed her out for being born a certain way and made her feel that if she loses weight and becomes queen,” that all of her problems will disappear and that she will be loved and accepted by everyone. There is no way that she can change the way her body process' food and there is no way that she can consume little enough without having to make herself more of an outcast. [...]
[...] Pacheco shows us something that he has experienced or has observed in his life around poverty and corruption. We see how he creates Adelina in a society he lives in with fear and petty cruelty. Pacheco is all of his characters, he is Adelina, he is the Osorio girls and she is Alberto. Peter Sourian from The New York Times Book Review wrote, “Pacheco has said he cannot believe his work could be of interest to anyone outside of Mexico City.” It is because of how he writes so accurate about Mexico City, which makes this so worth reading outside of his country; he shows us how the city he lives in is similar to the cities of the rest of the world. [...]
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