Theme Essay

         These are three different stories on three different things with different people in each. What do they have in common? Well, the theme. The first story I am going to talk about is called “Domingo” by Oscar Casares. It is about an old man who is working hard to provide for his wife. Domingo had to move away from his wife to work after his only child died on his watch. They tried everything they could to save her but it just wasn’t enough. So now he does yard work and sends the money to his wife. The second story is “Chango” which is also by Oscar Casares. It is about a man named Bony.  Bony finds a dead monkey head in his front yard and it reminds him of his best friend that died in a car crash. He tries to keep the monkey head but his parents make him, get rid of it. Unable to cope with the loss of his friend he lives with his parents and drinks beer all day long. Finally the last story is called “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs” by Chitra Divakaruni. This story is about a young lady who moves into her Aunt and Uncle’s house. Her Aunt and Uncle had an arranged marriage. She soon finds out that her Aunts husband is abusive and he even hit her Aunt in front of her. He quickly apologizes and the Aunt just forgives and forgets. Now what common theme can these three stories possibly have? Everyone has problems in their life, but it is the way you deal with the problem that makes the difference and who you will become.
         Domingo has many problems or trials in his life. First of all he always wanted kids, then he finally got a little girl. “How then could the child have been taken from them so quickly?” (Domingo, Casares, 80)  He took his eyes off her for a minute and she fell into the fire pit and died. That would be so terrible, to try to have children then you are blessed with one and she dies at such a young age, but as I said before it is the way you deal with your trials that make the difference. “Sometimes he bought beer and drank...but he tried not to do that anymore because it was too difficult for him to stop after two or three beers.”(Domingo, Casares, 79) Domingo could have turned to drinking, he could have given up in life, but he didn’t and that's what made him who he was. Many people try to drink their problems away but he chose not to because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop. He knew if he drank he wouldn’t be able to work and without working there wouldn’t be any money to send to his wife. “He had worked hard to provide for his family.”(Domingo, Casares, 85)  Even though he has lost so much he still does his best and works hard so he can provide for his wife back home.  
         Bony like the other story lost someone close to him. “He didn’t know how to make sense of his friend dying. Bony hadn’t been doing much except hanging out and partying. So why did God take Mando and not him?” (Chango, Casares, 54) He was never much of anything but after his friend died he stopped working and drank more and more alcohol. The way he was dealing with the trial in his life was leading him nowhere in life.  He is an older man still living with his parents. “Bony sat on the porch the rest of the afternoon...the beer was cold what more did he need. Right?”(Chango, Casares, 60) Everyday it is the same he sits outside drinking beer. The way he dealt with the hard times in his life made him who he is now, a lazy alcoholic. “He was just living. That’s the best explanation he could give. Living”(Chango, Casares, 67) Yeah he was living alright, living with his parents drinking beer all day. Thinking to himself why his friend had to die, why couldn’t it of been him? If he would've dealt with his problem differently it would’ve made the difference in his life and changed who he was. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he needed to move on and make the best out of the life he had.
         The next story is a little different than the rest. Nobody dies, so that is good news, but they still have problems in their life. “When the back of his hand catches Aunt Pratima across the mouth. I flinch as if his knuckles had made that thwacking bone sound against my own flesh.” (Divakaruni, 53) Her Uncle is beating her Aunt right in front of her, and what does her Aunt do?  She forgets it even happens. She pretends that her husband didn’t do anything and that her life is perfect.  Doing that has made her who she is. Not dealing with her problem, acting as if she didn’t just get hit across the face, is going to get her nowhere. It’s the way you deal with your problems that makes the difference. “Where the pavements are silver and the roofs all gold.” (Divakaruni, 56) Nobody's life is perfect so everyone has problems they will have to face.  Sooner or later you have to decide how you will deal with the problems. You can’t keep running away from them.  She thought by moving to America it would be like perfect silver pavement and golden roofs, but you will have problems wherever you go in life. Your problems won't just go away, you need to deal with them.
      In Conclusion, the way you deal with your problems shapes who you are or who you will become. You can face the problem like Domingo, You can try to escape your problems like Bony or you can try to ignore or pretend the problem doesn’t exist like Aunt Pratima.  The way you chose to deal with your trials will make the difference in your life, if it be good or bad. The decision is yours.