Pierre Simonian !

College 1!

RRJ 4: Chapter 3 of Madonnas of Echo Park!

1. In this chapter, the reader explores some life events through the eyes of Beatriz. Beatriz,
mother of Felicia, is seen as a depressed women with many negative experiences in her life.
Before she was born, her grandmother predicted that the offspring will be a male. However,
turning out to be a girl, she was surprised because she has never predicted wrong. Her
grandmother told Beatriz, that though she came out as a girl she had a soul of a man
somewhere inside her. Later on, Beatriz goes to a 99 cents store in Echo park. There she
sees a young woman wearing clothing a grandmother would wear. Weirded out, Beatriz
leaves the store and the woman follows her out and starts to speak with her. Beatriz tells her
to leave as she walks faster. Continuing to talk to her, Beatriz sees a bus station where she
can make an escape. However, she was too late and she ended up sitting at the bus stop.
The young woman spoke to her and Beatriz kept telling her to leave however as the young
woman kept on talking to her, Beatriz felt a feeling she has never felt before. She felt as if all
her problems didnt matter anymore and she felt reborn, but reality hit right back a moment
after. She turned back to the woman she was gone with only a rose bush in her trace. Days
later, Beatriz believes her encounter with that woman was Virgin Mary. She tells her theory
to Father Alemencio, and he was surprised because he has never heard a story like this, so
he suggested to leave it up to her. One day, Beatriz awakes and sees that there was a
shooting that took place sooner. She looks at the site and Virgin Mary appears and tells her
that it should have been her that shouldve gotten shot and told her that she is not ready to
what she as to tell her. Wondering why after she disappears, she gets cold and all the
jackets she buys and wears becomes useless for that they do not keep her warm.!
2. This chapter is probably the chapter I favor the most. The way Brando Skyhorse describes !
the feelings of Beatriz really touched me. While reading the text, in a way I can relate to !
the character. She is a depressed but something inside her shows that she is capable of !
being the happiest person with full confidence. Virgin Mary is the figure that can help !
Beatriz to see the light in life. Beatriz is very fearful and because of that she can never !
grow out of her small shell. In a way I can connect to the reading because I too feel that I am
very fearful of many things which prevents me from growing, mentally. !
3. What do you think Virgin Mary has to tell Beatriz? Do you think Beatriz met Virgin Mary in
her imagination or did she really make an encounter with her?!
4. The reading overall was very clear however there were some lines that made a huge impact
on the way I think. On page 56, Abuelita tells Beatriz If you dont believe it, you cant do it.
The reason I chose this line because usually people say If you believe it, the you can do it
never have I the contrapositive. Even though they mean the same thing, I feel what Abuelita
said makes more of an impact. I stopped at the line where it said you have much more
crying before I find you again. How does Virgin Mary know what her future is? If she made
an appearance with that mindset, why did she appear there?!
5. Lunacy means insanity or mental disorder. I chose this because it was all over the chapter
and it ties in with the theme. Fluorescence is the emission of radiation by a substance during
exposure to external radiation. The last word I will be defining is Animosity. Animosity is a
feeling of strong dislike and throughout this book, its seen everywhere.!