Rukhaya M.K

Pat Mora‘s “Legal Alien” from the collection Chants describes her own predicament as she was an American born to Mexican parents who settled in Texas. Texas is a city that borders on Mexico. Apart from being a writer, Pat Mora is also a cultural preservationist as she endeavours to document the lives of Mexican Americans and U.S. Latinas and Latinos through varying genres.(Wikipedia) “For a variety of complex reasons,” Mora explains, “anthologized American literature does not reflect the ethnic diversity of the United States. I write, in part because Hispanic perspectives need to be part of our literary heritage; I want to be part of the validation process. I also write because I am fascinated by the pleasure and power of words. “The poem “Legal Alien” is such a tribute to these diaspora and more significantly to her own state of identity crisis.

Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,
able to slip from “How’s life?”
to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
able to order in fluent Spanish
at a Mexican restaurant,
American but hyphenated,

Though she is an American citizen established by the law, she feels like an alien as she is constantly singled out for her roots. To the Mexican people also, she comes across as far-removed from their culture as an American citizen. She is thus torn between ‘two worlds: ”Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural”, and finds herself in the third space in diaspora theory. The diversity comes across not only in linguistics; she is also caught between two cultures. She can swiftly drift from “How’s life?” to “Me’stan volviendo loca,” as she is well-versed in English, as well as Mexican. The use of transliteration and code-switching enforces the theme of the poem. As she drafts written memos, she also eloquently and fluently orders in a Spanish restaurant. This proves how she is not only capable of switching languages, but also the medium of communication (written, spoken). It also underlines how two different languages are used in the basic necessities of her life-at the place of work and at eating. She is a “hyphenated American’ where the hyphen serves as a clause. Hyphenated words are usually uses to form compound nouns where both the parts are equally valid and indispensible to enforce the idea.

viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
viewed by Mexicans as alien,
(their eyes say, “You may speak
Spanish but you’re not like me”)
an American to Mexicans
a Mexican to Americans
a handy token
sliding back and forth
between the fringes of both worlds
by smiling
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.

The people of American visualize her in two different ways. Either they view her as ‘exotic’ or find her inferior as the “the other.” Either ways, this may also symbolize the conception of woman in a patriarchal society. Though they belong, they are perceived as ’the other’. Either the female is placed on a pedestal or is looked down upon. She is never placed on an equal footing with a man. They view her as a different specimen. Similar is the case with the Mexicans who sense that she only speaks Spanish but is different from the rest of the lot. Though they do not express this aspect candidly, their eyes do eloquently speak. Therefore she is like a piece of jigsaw puzzle that does not fit in America or Mexico:”“An American to Mexicans /a Mexican to Americans.”
She appears to herself as‘a handy token’. She is like a portable tool that slides back to and forth to situations, not only adopting, but also adapting. The idea of slipping back and forth also brings to mind the movement of a pendulum that does not stay on either side for long, nor does it permanently assume a neutral position. The speaker is thus in a state of identity crisis. She remains an object of scrutiny, yet smiles to camouflage her discomfort. People do not take an effort to know her but prejudge her ‘Bi-laterally.’

The word ‘bilateral ‘ has the following meanings:
1. having or involving two sides
2. affecting or undertaken by two parties; mutual a bilateral treaty
3. denoting or relating to bilateral symmetry
4. having identical sides or parts on each side of an axis; symmetrical
5. (History / Heraldry) Sociol relating to descent through both maternal and paternal lineage
All of these apply here.

© Rukhaya MK 2011

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