Elena

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1984

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Bilingual Immigrant Families

The family situation described in Mora’s poem is shared by many immigrant families throughout the United States, but especially by those who immigrated from Mexico and other Central American countries to escape poverty, crime, and oppression. Elena and her family are recent immigrants from Mexico. She remembers listening to her children speak Spanish back in their native country (Line 3), but now they “go to American high schools” (Line 8). Like most first-generation immigrants, Elena and her husband are neither wealthy nor highly educated. They sit around the kitchen table in the evening (Line 10) rather than in a separate living room, and Elena knows little English. Now, however, their children have better opportunities. “They speak English” (Line 9), probably fluently, and their mother feels left behind. Back in Mexico, she had no difficulty connecting with her children because she could understand “every word they’d say” (Line 4), but now she feels increasingly disconnected from them because they speak in English, which she cannot follow. No doubt the children can also speak Spanish, but their casual conversation is in English, and Elena can no longer be part of “their jokes, their songs, their plots” (Line 5) like she was when they lived in Mexico. Thus, her inability to speak English is not merely an inconvenience. It creates distance between the mother and her children, which pains and worries Elena, especially because it might create an obstacle if they ever needed her help (Line 21-22).

Traditional Gender Norms and Female Self-Deprecation

The poem begins with an example of Elena’s negative judgment about herself: “My Spanish isn’t enough” (Line 1). It is not enough because her children now mostly speak English; since she is speaking in a parental context, her words imply that she now feels inadequate as a parent. Once able to understand her children’s every word, now she feels “dumb, alone” (Line 11) as they chatter and laugh at the kitchen table. The experience makes her feel alienated and stupid, even though her inability to speak English does not diminish either her intelligence or her motherly love. Elena’s linguistic insecurity spreads and grows into a habit of self-deprecation, as she becomes increasingly critical of herself. She points out that she is “forty” (Line 15), yet she speaks English like a child. As a result, she is overwhelmed by embarrassment “at mispronouncing words” (Line 16). She thinks her “children, / the grocer, the mailman” laugh at her (Lines 17-18). They probably do not, or not as much as she thinks, because she is, at least in part, projecting onto them her own negative self-perception. Elena is so ashamed of her poor English that she locks herself “in the bathroom” to practice it (Line 19). Her attitude reflects traditional gender norms, which seem to prevail in her family. These norms demand that she must conceive of herself primarily as a mother, able and eager to nourish and protect her children. From that point of view, which she may have internalized, any weakness in that regard amounts to profound personal failure. On the other hand, her efforts to learn English and overcome that weakness might appear, from the same traditional perspective, inappropriately self-assertive for a woman who is expected to stay in her place. Elena’s husband frowns at her English book (Line 13), which one of their children interprets insightfully and accurately: “Mamá, he doesn’t want you / to be smarter than he is” (Lines 14-15). This statement confuses linguistic proficiency with intelligence, but it deftly defines gendered patriarchal expectations which position the wife as subordinate and inferior to her husband. Elena is stuck in a bind. She can either play the socially prescribed part of a weak and self-effacing wife or she can take charge of the situation and grow as a person. She chooses the latter.

Female Strength and Determination

No one encourages Elena to learn English and regain confidence and self-respect. Her husband frowns at her efforts (Line 13); her children are amused (Line 17). Still, Elena resists both social expectations and personal insecurities in her determination to master “the thick words” of the foreign language (Line 20). She does it so she could better help her children when they need her (Lines 21-22), which may appear to conform to patriarchal reduction of female identity to motherhood. However, her maternal love goes beyond traditional homemaking and childcare. Elena wants to understand her children; she wants to know them even as they approach adulthood. That requires more than English proficiency. Elena knows that what her children need is not just an English-speaking mother but one who can summon the strength and resolve to be informed and engaged, both in her family and in their American life, so that her relationship with her children can be that of mutually supporting adults, the most rewarding and the most lasting kind. Practicing the pronunciation of English words in the bathroom may be a small step, but it leads to growth and power, and it shows that Elena has the courage and drive to persevere in that process.