Born and raised in the U.S., Carol is thrown into the unknown culture of the foreign country, Spain. She is a free spirited, independent, young girl, and shows this right off the bat with her non-traditional “tom-boyish” outfits. She refuses to conform to the traditional feminine attire, even to the extent of refusing to wear a dress at her first communion. Her American background produced a girl who is comfortable asserting herself. This causes her to have conflicts with others in Spain, including her aunt as when she ignored her curfew and told her off when being reprimanded. Another example of this conflict is the relentless fight she had with her friends to recover her stolen hat.
When Franco won the Spanish Civil War, he dissolved the Spanish parliament and established a right wing authoritarian regime. Under this regime he suppressed those who had descendent views through censorship and coercion. He even used concentration camps and death sentences. Unfortunately because many experienced economic growth and improvements in quality of living under this regime, they overlooked any human rights abuses that were rampantly occurring. One such injustice was when Carol’s dad and boyfriend were hunted down and the boyfriend ended up being killed. Despite all of the conflicts and animosities Carol has adjusting to the culture of Spain, she maintains her own spirit and identity throughout the film.
Beth Niehaus
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI liked the story about Carol and how her free spirit did get her in trouble at times. She took charge of herself and she let people know that. I do not like history but you explained the Franco years well. I do think the deaths and punishments were overlooked just like Tomi's death will be. No one will hav eto explain.
beth- you are so well spoken and I have enjoyed your blogs. I like hoe you made a clear identification of the oppressions seen in the movie as they related to the Spanish Civil War. It makes a lot of sense for the reader. I also liked how you mentioned Carol's free, independent spirit as it makes her stand out immensely from the the others who were born and raised in Spain with more conservative views.
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