Gil's Furniture Bought & Sold

             -Armani B.-

     In this vignette, Esperanza and her sister, Nenny take a visit to a local junk store, owned by an old man named Gil. Both of them are very familiar with the store because they once purchased a used refrigerator and other used junk from there. The building is described to be small with a single dirty window that is used as a primary light source. The only time Gil turns on the actual lights is when someone has money to buy to things. Therefore, the place is often dark. The store is filled with TVs that probably don’t even work, dusty old sofas, stacks of upside down chairs, and other pre-owned products. 

   The owner is an old black man who doesn't talk much. He just sits about and observes all movement that occurs in the store. Nenny, who has faith in her intelligence socializes with the old man and asks him a lot of questions. On the other hand, Esperanza keeps quiet. Gil then, shows Nenny an old music box and Nenny becomes fascinated with it. Esperanza then, starts to visualize the box as a pretty one with flower illustrations on it, and a ballerina in its contents. To her surprise, it was just a wooden box with brass in it, but still manages to play an unrecognizable tune. Esperanza remains quiet as the music box plays, pretending to not like the wooden box because she doesn’t want her sister to notice how foolish she looked. Her little sister wanting to buy the box, but Gil shuts her down. "This one isn't for sale”, he says.

    The music box was seemingly cherished by the owner, clearly proven as he didn't want to give up the item. The box more or likely was accompanied with several important memories he couldn't afford to give up. One thing that caught my attention in this vignette was that the junk store used windows as a source of light, rather than electricity. I believe that here the windows represent the border between reality and imagination. The darkness of the store giving Esperanza the means to call upon her thoughts. Such as "The TVs stacked high create a maze in the store." I think that the window is also recognized as a new life for Esperanza and the darkness or depression that she’s facing now.