Parrot in the Oven; The Final Post!

Summary: What’s so special about gangs? What’s the purpose of entering a gang? Individuals in society devote their lives to gangs. Joining a gang is a mere devotion that can cost the individual their life. Personally, I wouldn’t join any form of cult which can endanger my life to an extreme, such as a gang.

Manny surely viewed the aspect of gang’s differently than me. I’m sure he knew the dangers of gangs, after all, he’s a bright individual. What he lacked was a sense of awareness. Manny decided he was going to go forward the initiation of the gang, even after knowing that brutal assault that comes with it. Manny was not too worried so much about getting hurt, he was just worrying about if he was actually going to get to kiss one of the females that was promised by his friend Frankie.

It was the next day and Manny was surely sore from the beating he had to take. I could only imagine getting hit by others, and not being able to strike back. What a dehumanizing way to get accepted into a cult. When Manny woke up and had gotten ready to meet up with his new ‘gang’, he realized that he had made promises to his mother about doing chores around the house. These chores consisted of cleaning his room, which he did poorly, and raking the leaves outside. When he was done with the chores he grabbed a baseball cap and his old mitt just to look casual as he left his place. The only problem was that Rebecca is not dumb; she does a very good job at analyzing the situations very well. In saying that, she mentioned to Manny that she knows he stopped playing baseball months ago, and it’s too cold to be playing ball. Despite her true accusations, she still left Manny go along.

Manny would later meet with his gang near Long’s Drugstore, by the mall. The crew wanted to steal things, but once someone gave an idea, the other will make an excuse of why not to proceed with the idea. After some time, Eddie ventured off with Manny, after having a hot dispute with Frankie. Manny knew Eddie was up to no good, and that all he wanted to do was just to get away for he can actually steal something with him.

When Eddie decided on which individual was going to be his next prey, he approached her like a cheetah: with haste, but silently, and with caution. As took the purse from the defenseless women, Manny saw him bolt right passed him. Not knowing what to do, Manny began to chase him. Unconsciously, Manny knew it wasn’t doing him any good, so he stopped. Then, he began to think about the situation, and that’s when he found himself. He has finally recognized who he really should be.

Manny went home, to where he belonged. And like the old saying goes, ‘there’s no place like home’.

Quotation: “In that instant of trying to call out Eddie, everything changed. It was like I’d finally seen my own face and recognized myself; recognized who I really should be. Then I didn’t feel like catching up to Eddie anymore… I slowed down to a walk just as the wind and rain were dying” (Martinez 210).

Reaction: One of the most important things about life is finding who one really is. We can’t let society determine what shirt we wear, what cell phone we have, what hairstyle you decide to get, nor the shoes you want to wear. Manny was one of those guys who tried to do what others were doing for he can fit in at times. But now that he has found himself he doesn’t need to do that. The dénouement of Parrot in the Oven, was truly one of my favorites. The novel ended beautifully with Manny describing the irony of his living room: how Rebecca spent so much time making it nice and peaceful, but Victor spend most of his time trying to ruin the unity and the peaceful harmony of the living room.

Manny has found who he truly is, can you?
That’s the true question in life, can one truly find ourselves in the mist of life.