Characters

The most important characters in the short story “With His Own Two Hands” by Albert Garcia are the narrator and his grandfather. Note that the characters have the same name, Enrique Guadalupe Sanchez, and it is important to clearly differentiate between them in your characterization. 

The narrator

The narrator is the main character in the short story. He is a developing character, as his attitude towards his grandfather and towards being Mexican changes during the course of the narrative.

This change is marked symbolically through the character’s name. When he is a teenager and he rejects his grandfather and Mexican culture he calls himself “Ricky S” (l. 57). When he embraces his Mexican identity he calls himself “Enrique, Enrique Guadalupe Sanchez” (l. 116).

Outer characterization

The narrator’s outer characterization also changes throughout the story, because the plot covers events when he was “four years old” (l. 27), a teenager, and an adult. At the moment of the narration, Enrique is “a professor of Chicano Studies at a small college in North Los Angeles” (ll. 53-54). We also know that he lives in Los Angeles, but his grandparents lived in Texas.

Inner characterization

Enrique’s inner characterization differs according to the different stages of his life: childhood, teenage years, adulthood. Most of his traits surface in connection to his grandfather and to being a Mexican-American.

As a child, Enrique’s attitude towards his grandparents suggests curiosity and admiration. He loved listening to his grandfather’s stories or helping his grandmother cook: “I loved staying up late to listen to stories of how he learned to play the guitar as a young boy and how he sang to make money for his family instead of going to school.” (ll. 5-7); “To me he was bigger and better than any character in any story I’d read or any movie I’d seen.” (ll. 41-42); “When I was a boy, I would help her separate the beans one by one, and then we would soak them in a big pot.” (ll. 62-63)

As a teenager, Enrique’s attitude towards his grandparents’ lifestyle and Mexican traditions changes. Growing up in California, he embraces the identity of a “city boy” (l. 48) and concerns himself with activities that are typical for an American teenager: “I was interested in playing Nintendo and listening to Run DMC. (…)I wasn’t a musician or an athlete.” (ll. 45-48)

Teenage Enrique is no longer interested in his grandfather’s stories and he begins to feel ashamed of the way his grandparents dress and of their Mexican lifestyle: “...but as I grew older, I started to look at him differently. I started to feel embarrassed about having grandparents who had a horse but no car.” (ll. 8-9); “They looked so much like the Mexicans I was trying hard not to be...” (ll. 15-16)

Like most teens, Enrique desires to fit in the society he lives in. This leads him to assume that he ...