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Ariana Azoulai

Professor Batty

English 101

7 May 2017

Painting A Better World

Saint; a person who is kind-hearted, helpful, or patient. In the novel, Still Water Saints by

Alex Espinoza, the reader is taken on a journey through different lives within the Agua Mansa

community. And while these people all bear saint-like qualities, there are still some challenges

that arise which need to be faced. One of these characters is a rebellious teenager named Lluvia

Medina. Initially, I didnt believe Lluvia possessed kind qualities because of her cold attitude

towards everyone, however, looking beyond her murky depths I was able to see she was only

protective of her mother. Towards the end of the chapter, Lluvias true colors come through and

the reader is able to see her saint-like qualities by her show of inspiring empowerment, using her

gift to help the community, and taking the role of being her moms personal saint.

Woman empowerment is an important issue that lacks in most of the world today, causing

people like Lluvias mother to become a victim to this societal standard. Mrs.Medina is,

unfortunately, in an unfaithful relationship caused by her husband, Enrique Medina. In the

middle of the night, hell often leave and make an excuse about how he has work but Lluvia is

witness to what he truly does. Lluvia recalls a memory from childhood where Enrique had taken

her and her brother to his mistress's house, My father had one arm around [the mistresss] waist.

His other hand was shoved inside her blouse, moving around under the tight black fabric

(Espinoza 217). While she didnt completely grasp what was happening at the time, she is now
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able to see clearly that her father cheated, and continues to cheat, on her mother. Despite his

infidelity, he is the familys source of income and Lluvias mother is scared to let him go because

of the love and dependency she has on him. Having so much reliance on another person can not

only destroy someone but affect those around them, in this case, her kids.

This kind of heartbreak does not apply only to fictional characters, infidelity affects a vast

amount of relationships in the real world, as well. Many people have the same fear Mrs.Medina

has whenever Enrique leaves for business in the middle of the night, ...66% of men and

women said they worry about their significant other cheating while they're on a business trip

(Lake, Infidelity Statistics: 23 Eye-Opening Truths). This high number of fear within

marriages is only a small portion of how partners feel. Many people dont have a Lluvia in their

life to help them gain back their joy and strength. Lluvias ability to give power back to her mom

is life-changing by giving her a chance to be truly happy again. This kindness and love Lluvia

portrays for her mother illustrates a couple of heroic qualities she carries.

Lluvias passion for painting sparks her to make use of her talent by painting murals so

she can spread meaningful messages and beauty across Agua Mansa. Her first mural is done for

the Clnica Mujer with her old art teacher, Miss Lpez. Together, they create a picture of a

diversity where women are standing together, empowered. By creating these murals that

personify importance, Lluvia has the chance to bring beauty to her community. To clear the

graffiti and vandalism, Lluvia plans to ...dress [Agua Mansa] up...With murals (Espinoza 219).

Using her gift, Lluvia is able to create new visuals that embody positive messages and everyone

can see.

After completing other murals, Perla enquirers Lluvia paint a mural on the side of the

botnica. While this mural has meaning to Perla, it also contains significance to Lluvia that
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pertains to her mother. Having sentimental value while representing a community through art, is

something Miss Lpez had spoken to Lluvia about,Muralists...are artists of the people. Their

work is public art, art that needs to reflect the people, their hopes and desires (Espinoza 220).

Lluvia is able to connect to peoples aspirations and change peoples lives with her gift, including

her mothers. Painters in the real-world can relate with Lluvia and often use their work to bring

life back to broken-down buildings, paint influential messages for all to see, and uplift and

change people.

Mrs.Medina was stuck in a vicious cycle of denial regarding her husband, and the only

person who truly seemed to care, was Lluvia; her liberation. Deep down, Lluvias mother knew

Enrique was cheating on her, but she couldn't accept it. Even after discovering she has

gonorrhea, Mrs.Medina tried to rationalize the situation. When Lluvia made an attempt to tell her

Enrique transmitted the STD, she continued to defend him. Mrs.Medinas story is sadly not a

fictitious one. In our society, STDs are often transferred between partners because of infidelity;

Brian and Anne Bercht (Affair Recovery Specialists) have discovered that ...about 50% of

[their] cases of affair survivors...this is the case. In spite of all the education today, people are so

unaware of the epidemic of STDs. Everyone thinks it wont happen to them. (Bercht, How

Can I Heal From an Affair, When My Husband Gave Me an STD?). This astounding percentage

of STDs transferred within marriage is only on the rise and displays how real and common

Mrs.Medinas situation is.

In the midst of Mrs.Medinas shocking news, Enrique was coming back that night and

Lluvia needed to snap her mom out of denial. She encourages her mother to go see the mural

shed been working on for the botnica, The Virgin of Guadalupe. It was beautifully painted on

the wall, but in the Virgins place, was her mother. This awoke something within her mother to
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change, causing her to say, Its me, Me...I don't want us to be there when he comes home

tonight. Lets go (Espinoza 230). She was finally seeing herself the way her daughter always

saw her, strong and capable of being on her own. Lluvias mural paints her mother in a re-newed

light. Mrs.Medina had lost her spark, her confidence, her independence, but Lluvias mural had

revived these within her. This paints Lluvia in a new light as well, no longer seen as the

troubled teen, but instead a saint. Her mothers personal savior.

The word saint can have a different meaning for everyone, depending on who they are

and what their view of light is. On the surface, Lluvia seems rude and indifferent, however,

looking past her hard surface you see shes been through trials that cause her to be protective.

While she isnt the perfect human being, she does have compassionate qualities that stand out

from the crowd; she encourages unity and liberation among women, she spreads important

messages through her art, and she is the one who finally frees her mom of the ties that prevented

her from being happy. Without saints in the world, there would be no balance between good and

bad. The scales would tip and everything would be dark, inciting hate, chaos, and destruction.

Saints create and spread a positive energy that combats evil by bringing love, peace, and

creation. They surround us everyday in the form of average people who make big impacts. By

fighting for issues we believe in and striving for a better world, we can create and inspire saint-

like qualities in ourselves, as well as, others.

Works Cited

Source 1:

In, Jin. "What Is Women's Empowerment?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08

Mar. 2016. Web. 01 May 2017.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jin-in/what-is-womens-empowerment_b_9399668.html
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>.

Source 2:

Lucas, Stacey. "The Effects of Cheating on the Person You Cheat On." The Huffington Post. The

Huffington Post, 01 Sept. 2014. Web. 01 May 2017.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/stacey-lucas/effects-of-cheating_b_5553209.html>.

Source 3:

Lake, Rebecca. "Infidelity Statistics: 23 Eye-Opening Truths." CreditDonkey. N.p., n.d. Web. 08

May 2017. <https://www.creditdonkey.com/infidelity-statistics.html>.

Source 4:

Bercht, Anne. "How Can I Heal From an Affair, When My Husband Gave Me An STD." Brian

and Anne Bercht. N.p., 01 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 May 2017.

<http://beyondaffairs.com/affair-recovery/husband-gave-me-an-std/>.

Source 5:

Espinoza, Alex. Still Water Saints: A Novel. London: Picador, 2013. Print.