Fuerte 1

Jaclyn Fuerte
Professor Adler
STACC English 100_70525
October 27, 2015
Free as the Wind
Instability is a prevalent factor in life. From the moment an individual is born life
conditions are wavering and molding who you are and what you will do. The malleability of a
person however is not as effortless. In the novel, A Place to Stand, Jimmy Santiago Baca is
depicted as a man that has experienced devastating circumstances in his childhood and in his
adult life that eventually led him to prison. In chapter seven of A Place to Stand, Baca uses
symbolic imagery, personification, and flashbacks to articulate the transformation of an angry
and scared man to a person that has the will to live.
In chapter seven Baca uses symbolic imagery to illustrate the inner turmoil he feels in
regards to who he is and where he is in life the darkness of my cell glowed with the bright dawn
light of Estancia (139.) Baca uses the darkness of the cell to depict the bleak emptiness he
feels and felt in his life as a continual number in the system. Baca also portrays the darkness as a
void in himself that needs healing from bright dawn light of Estancia or the positive moments
in his earlier life. Symbolic imagery is prevalent in this quote because it reveals The darkness in
his cell as representative for the night and the inability to see the unwounded person he once was.
Baca waits for the morning or the bright dawn light of Estancia to guide him away from
ruinous actions he committed in his everyday life. The darkens of my cell Glowed The Walls
of my cell slowly disintegrated into trees and a pond and village people coming out of their

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houses (139.) the disintegration of the walls into trees symbolizes a coming together of worlds
for Baca, the coming together of worlds is illustrative of Bacas need for change in himself.
Symbolic Imagery is communicated as a yearning to return to the person he was as a child the
walls of my cell slowly disintegrated imply a transition in to the next stage of his life. The
images of trees and village people comfort Baca and pull him closer to the places in life he truly
feels he is a part of.
Personification is used as a means to present the readers with Bacas self-perception.
Baca is able to learn more about himself when he is alone and capable of self-refection. For the
first time in years my minds eye drifted back over my shoulder, down the bleak road that led me
here (133.) In this quote Baca gives human attributes to his minds eye to magnify negative
perceptions of himself that he does not wish to confront. Bacas negative feelings of self-worth
are forced upon him in his reflection of the the bleak road. The bleak road being the
destructive choices he made prior to his incarceration. Bacas personification of his mind s eye
drifting back over his shoulders is a system in which Bacas ideas are enlarge enough for the
reader to recognize his transformation of self-perception. Baca implements personification as a
method of connectedness and self-perception. Baca identifies himself with his culture and the
people within it. The Mexican culture connects him to a different aspect of himself one that is
hardworking, honest, and inviting. I felt their will was growing inside of me and would
ultimately let me be free as the wind (153.) through the utilization of personification Baca is
able to see himself as part of something bigger. He does not have to be the scrutinized son,
brother, or Chicano when he is included in the will of his people. Through personification their
will was growing inside of Baca which assisted him into accepting and seeing himself as a

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different person, a better person. Baca is able to see himself as an individual that lives for himself
with the innate characteristics that make up his people and culture.
Baca uses flashbacks as a catalyst for the transition of a scared, hopeless individual to a
man that has something to live for. Baca continually revives himself from his past memories only
to find the present as vacant as he left it. Flashbacks highlight Bacas certainty of himself as a
child. The ritual of re-creating my young life repeated itself every day after mealsId picture
myself back in Estancia, hear my six year old voice talking with my friend..(139.) In this quote
Baca allows himself to fall into his memories as a way to remember that he has something to
hold on to in a place that devours your humanity. The solace found in his memories confirms to
the reader that he is likely to change as a person to survive the hostile environment of prison.
Baca chooses to write about his life in a back in forth fashion to accentuate his panicked state of
mind I push against the rusty sides, trying to come out to hug my grandpa. I push and push
against the barrel but it wont budge. Then I hear av voice but its not my grandpas (148.) The
use of a flash back as a literary device in this quote is to represent the urgency of Bacas
anticipation of leaving the prison and change his ways. His sudden pull back in to reality helps to
demonstrate that you cannot ignore the way you live your life. Flashbacks only serve Baca to
help him realize how dreadful his genuine life is and that it is time to change it.
Baca introduces the instable society reflected on to individuals during their lifetime. Baca
effectively displays the allusions society places on you from birth and the ability to break the
barriers that hold you to societal standards. Bacas usage of literary devices promote the
imperativeness of the little things in life. Overall Baca emphasizes the significance of the
strength of the human spirit and its will to carry on regardless of the traumatic impacts it has to
endure.