Blog 7

Cultural Post-

There is a definite pronunciation on honor in Diego's society that doesn't exist in America. The Spanish would rather die for their honor than live in shame. Juliana's father actually does die for his honor. In not leaving his home in a timely manner, the authorities find traces of his departure and track him to his summer home, then they arrest him and have him executed for fleeing from the law. So, in essence, by not taking enough into consideration about what could happen to his life, or the lives of his two daughters, Juliana and Isabel, he got himself killed. Another thing that I saw was the prison differences. In their culture, they wouldn't allow bail or visitation rights (except in the face of a sobbing, beautiful daughter in Juliana's case), which I believe is inhumane for a person who is about to die to not be able to set their affairs in order. In our culture, we at least allow a goodbye before sentencing one's family member to a death sentence. I found myself unable to understand the way that people think in their culture, which, I suppose, is why we're doing this assignment.

Rant

I think Juliana is weaker in spirit than her sister Isabel. However, I want to debate this. Juliana did sacrifice her married life if her to be fiance could save her father. However, she did crumble like a little girl when A group of bandits were attacking she and her family. Though it wasn't proper for a lady of that age to do a spinning kick flip, she could have at least done a little more than scream and cry. Isabel actually got some action, getting in a punch. Good for her. I'm starting to like Isabel more and more throughout the book, just for her character. I appreciate the fact that she's cunning, and intelligent. I think this book proves that beauty isn't everything. Juliana and Isabel become Diego's at the end of the chapter when their father is sentenced to death, and this is advantagous to Diego, in his attempt to woo Juliana. I want to see how this situation turns out, even if I know that Juliana and Diego don't turn out.