responce notes "Uncle Rock" by Dagoberto Gilb

Uncle Rock
by Dagoberto Gilb


responce  notes:



……In Uncle Rock, by Dagoberto Gilb "American" is mentioned, it is a positive reference to Erick's favorite food. Later it is stated that, "Erick drove a fork into a goopy American egg yolk and bled it into his American potatoes"(1). This later reference sends a threat to his mother, that he does not like the man that is talking to her. As if Erick is saying this may be "America", but I do not want this man around. Through out the rest of the story Erick favors baseball, a very 'American' sport, and makes negative references to Mexico. His vision of Mexico is, "rocks everywhere, and scorpions and tarantulas and rattlesnakes, and vultures and no trees and not much water, and skinny dogs and donkeys, and ugly bad guys"(4). This makes America very appealing in contrast.

Erick's prayers, are a fragmented view of another aspect of his life. Just as his relationship with Albert is.

In the engineer's office Erick is not allowed to touch anything, even though there is nothing that he would want to touch. This restriction seems to carry over to the engineer's home when Erick's mother tells him, "to be well mannered" (3), even though the home does have things that Erick would like to enjoy. Erick shows his rebellion my taking small bites to make them think he does not like the food.

Roque's preference for boxing trajects that he understands the importance of Erick’s interest in baseball. If he did not have a love for a sport he would not have this connection with Erick. Further more it intensifies his gift when he takes Erick and his mother to the baseball game, because Roque does not have a connection with baseball.

The "American eggs and hash browns" and baseball are symbolic of Erick's desire to stay in America. The correlation between the two is Erick loves his 'American eggs" but he stabs them in rebellion when an unwanted guest invites himself to the table, just as he loves baseball but throws the note from the player on the ground when the player propositions Erick's mother.

By the end of the story Erick appears to like Roque and shows it by throwing the baseball players note on the ground, or this may have happened even with out Roque‘s involvment in his mothers life. Roque is considered a favorable preference, when his description includes, "He loved her (Erick's mother) so much—anybody could see his pride when he was with her" (7). The paragraph containing this comment is a turning point in the story, starting with Erick not wanting to move to Roque's home and ending with Roque's love for Erick's mother. attitude was disapproving towards men, to the point that he did not even talk to them. He treated them as if they were not even there. At the end on the first paragraph Gilb states, "He tightened his jaw then, slanted his eyes up from his plate at his mom and not the man, definitely not this man he did not care for" (1' Uncle Rock' by Dagoberto Gilb), conveying that his mothers suitors make him tense and uncomfortable.