Lopez Jesus

Professor Batty

12 May 2017

Saint Like or Not...You Decide!

In the book Still Water Saint by Alex Espinoza we can say there are many saint like

characters , but the one I felt that was the most saint like was Perla the owner of the Botanica.

The reasons why I say she was saint like is she gave hope to other, shw washelpful because she

knew how it felt when someone needed help, and among all , she is honorable to put herself in

danger for someone else's needs . Perla went to great lengths and sometimes out of her own way

to help people no matter how small or how big it was.

The people in Auga Mansa often refereed her as bruja or Santa because it was unreal how many

people she help with drug addiction, surgery, or personal problem. In page 8 , in Still water

Saints by Alex Espinoza states that, When doctors failed, When priest and praying was not

enough, the people of Agua Mansa came to Botanica Oshua thus conclude that she was the last

hope for some or the only hope they had. She was trustworthy and convincing for that reason

people came to her with any problem that most people would keep secret. As mention in the

book, Men often grew uneasy in her presence. The women always opened up. (Page 8

Espinoza) In this case like Jorge did open up to her , but she had to walked out of the store to get

Jorge to talk since he was embarrassed about his depression. So what made Perla, the owner of

the botanica , so understanding, wise, or a hero because wasn't always the owner or was a hero.

In fact the Botanica was given to her by Dario her mentor. He had saw something in Perla that's
Perla didn't even realize her self el don he refer to her as the gift and that it was strong in her.

Dario also mention that, that power like yours, like mines, like the women I learned from, it

doesn't come without a price...Polio It shrunk my leg. It was my price. The woman I learned

from, she was burned in a fire. Another man I knew, he was blind in one eye, but his gift of

prophecy and his healing powers were strong. Youhe pointed to Perla, to her

stomachyoull never have children. Its the price you pay(page 142 Espinoza ). Dario end up

leaving and giving the Botanica to Perla. He saw something in her that was empty he felt that she

needed the botanica to fill her void. As a matter of fact in research by Sonja Lyubomirsky, a

psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside, implies by saying, After a

rigorous review of research on the therapeutic benefits of positive emotion, Lyubomirsky said,

she and her colleagues found widespread support for the notion that people with a tendency

toward depression can help themselves by helping others or otherwise introducing positivity into

their day-to-day lives. Therefore, she was the perfect person for the Botanica for the reason that

she knew a lot about herbs and recipes taught by Dario , but the top reason why she was given

the Botanica was the void in her life that made her feel that she needed to help people someone

willing to go great length to help customer.

Perla had all sort of problem that came into the Botanica from depression , drug use , or even

to help a girl focus on school. Then one day where it was the first time she encountered a

problem that she never encountered before was with a kid name Rodrigo. This kid came from all

the way from Mexico crossing illegally to America and it was not easy he had endure tough

choices and had to do unforgetable things for he can keep on going and cross. Thing kids at his
age should never go through from picking up tires, plastic, or rubber to giving a hand job for

money, cleaning windshields of cars, and end up finding a job to entertain customers. Then

Dwight came along he was from USCM and told Rodrigo to come to America because he

wanted Rodrigo all to himself because his wife didn't satisfy him anymore. Throughout the book

Dwight started treating Rodrigo more and more like someone to have sex with which led to

rapping and hitting him. That's when he saw the Botanica and met Perla where she treated his

wound and gave him a safe places to sleep. Perla wanted to go to doctor, to the police , or even

call her close friend Teresa. Unfortunately, Rodrigo was an illegal immigrant so she knew the

situation she might put him through if she were to go to the authorities so she took it upon herself

to not and treated himself. For the reason that who knew what would happen to him and a highly

probable solution would be that he would get deported.

Some might have argued that she was the most saint like character in StillWater Saint for many

reason like not going police or taking Rodrigo the hospital since it was the logical thing to do.

However I disagreed according to this article ,A Botanica Is Ready to Help When Evil Spirits

Come Calling Me from the LA Times by Miles Corwin's noted that ,Latinos are not familiar

with public health and counseling centers. Many avoid doctors and hospitals because they are

afraid of signing forms that might jeopardize their status here. And the spiritual realm, an

important part of life for many Latinos from rural villages, is not addressed in the standard

American mall which proves that even if she might have done the wrong thing in some people

point of view her intention was right who knew what would happen if Perla did go to the police
or doctors. This what made Perla a great person she knew what the patient or customer there own

privacy and only gave them what is necessary or what they wanted.

We can theories who was the most saint like in the book and have arguments why Perla wasn't

for the fact that she convinced people that her product helps even tho doctor don't recommend or

not calling the police for Rodrigo. Toward end of her journey I still strongly believe that she did

her best on helping people even with the most bad of situations she encountered.
 Works Cited

Corwin, Miles. "A Botanica Is Ready to Help When Evil Spirits Come Calling." Los Angeles

Times. Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 1992. Web. 13

Thompson, Dennis. "With Depression, Helping Others May in Turn Help You." US News. N.p.,

n.d. Web.