Memories Of The Alhambra

            
             The novel, Memories of the Alhambra, by Nash Candelaria tells the story of a man's search for the roots of his heritage. The novel takes place some time shortly after World War II. The main characters of the novel are Jose Rafa, his wife Theresa Rafa, and his son Joe Rafa. Given that the Rafas are members of a minority culture, people in a social hierarchy, with inferior power and less secure access to resources than majority groups, they experience all types of discrimination that shapes their lives. The majority culture influences a person's life choices through discrimination such as language barrier and the assumptions that people who are born in a minority culture will always have a lower status than those people in a majority culture. .
             As a minority living in a majority culture, Joe Rafa, much like his father Jose Rafa, was never proud of his Mexican heritage. When Jose Rafa was in school, he was extremely embarrassed and ashamed when the teacher asked him about his nationality. Similarly, Joe Rafa had the same predicament; Joe hated his heritage because in school he got into many fights because other kids would be derogatory and call him names like "Dirty Mexican (84)." Joe's parents had to transfer Joe to a parochial school for discipline. Fortunately, Joe was able to use this to his advantage; under the loving care of his new teachers, Joe realized that knowledge was the real power. Because Joe was a minority existing in a majority world, Joe learned to be quiet, but smarter. Joe recognized that in order to become better then the majority, he needed to be the smartest student in the class; he must beat them at their own game, in their own field. When Joe came to understand the meaning of diligence and in!.
             telligence being the true power, his school career blossomed. He became an honor student and found a group of friends with whom he could relate. In this case, being a minority gave Joe the advantage instead of letting it become an issue; Joe was able to use it as a motivator for him to succeed.