Analysis of Little Sister Born in This Land/Hermanita nacida en estas tierras

El poema Little Sister Born in This Land/Hermanita nacida en estas tierras es un parte de colección de poesías bilingüe de Elías Miguel Muñoz, 1989. Muñoz es nacido en 1954 en la ciudad Ciego de Avila, Cuba. Llegó a los Estados Unidos en 1969 con sus padres. Muñoz enseña en literatura de español y latinoamericano de Wichita State Universidad en Kansas. Muñoz ha publicado novelas, colección de poesías y libros en escolares.

El poema Little Sister Born in This Land/Hermanita nacida en estas tierras trata de un hermano y una hermana pequeña. El poema está una carta de hermano para su hermanita, Vicky. El hermano es nacido en Cuba y Vicky es nacida en los Estados Unidos (EE UU). El hermano piensa que la hermanita no había la misma infancia que él, porque Vicky criaba en los Estados Unidos y no en Cuba, al igual que él. En los Estados Unidos están muchas cosas y la gente están muy materialistas. Los niños pierden la imaginación, porque que reciben todas. El hermano critica la sociedad en los Estados Unidos y piensa que una infancia en Cuba es más buena. “Y no sufrió la burla de los juguetes caros que te regala el fantasma engañoso de diciembre.” (la pagina 117, línea 11-15) Esta cita muestra actitud del hermano para la sociedad y en esto caso la navidad en los Estados Unidos.

The brother portrays himself as one who has been raised in a poor and primitive environment in Cuba. He describes the games that he has played in his childhood as being good and educating, because his fantasy has been developed even though he did not have any materialistic objects to play with. He criticizes his sister’s childhood in USA. He believes that his sister’s childhood is deceptive and that it has a negative influence on her fantasy and development. Throughout the poem he repeats that it is not the sister’s fault, but the society where she has grown up.

The composition of the poem is very irregular. The poem consists of 6 stanzas, which all have different lengths. All the stanzas treat the same subject, which is Cuba vs. USA. He uses several examples from his own and his sister’s world. He refers to things which kids in the western world can relate to, for example: Disney and Coca-Cola. In the poem there is repetition of different lines. “When you slip away, slowly and lovingly” – this line is repeated three times in the poem. The line is a way of the brother to express how he feels that his little sister is slipping away from him and that she is being taken by the western and its love for materialistic things. The brother cannot understand the world that the sister lives in and she probably not relate to his either. This creates a great distance between the two of them. “It isn’t a reproach, sister, Little sister born in this land” – this line is also repeated several times in the poem, and it is the brother’s way of saying that he does not blame his sister, for the childhood that she has had. To emphasize the fact that it is not the sister’s, but the country’s fault, he keeps repeating that she was born in “this land”, and therefore she does not know better and she does not know what she has been missing out on. The tone of the poem is educational towards the sister, but mainly to USA. The tone is not negative and it is not forced, at least not towards the sister, but to the western world. The poem is easy to read and it does not contain any big words. It is a conscious choice from the poet and it makes it able for everyone to read and understand the poem and its content.

The themes in the poem are: childhood, USA vs. Cuba, the relationship between brother and sister. Childhood plays a big part in the poem because it is the main theme. The theme is seen throughout the poem. The theme USA vs. Cuba is placed “underneath” the theme childhood, because the poem focuses on the childhood in Cuba and USA. The last theme relationship between brother and sister is written between the lines. It is difficult for them to relate and understand each other’s childhoods. Even though the brother loves his sister and wants the best for her, and that is the reason why he has written the poem.

El poema Little Sister Born in This Land/Hermanita nacida en estas tierras is a look-alike letter from a big brother to his little sister, where he criticizes el Occidente and their way of living. He tells the differences between una infancia en Cuba y los Estados Unidos. The brother believes that his sister does not develop her imaginación the same way he did, instead she grows up en un mundo filled with materialistic things. El poema is very personal, because Muñoz is referring to his own vida en Cuba. Muñoz immigrated to los Estados Unidos when he was un joven, so therefore he has experienced the cultural differences between una vida en Cuba y los Estados Unidos. Muñoz intension with el poema is to bring awareness about growing up en un mundo filled with materialistic things, which los Estados Unidos is a symbol of, because he believes it damages the children’s imaginación.