A Very Special Pet by Nicholasa Mohr

The Fernandez family was very large. Graciela and Eugenio Fernandez had eight children: Pablito, Nellie, Carmen, William, Olgita, Freddie, Linda, and Baby Nancy. They were very poor. They had also two pets: Marialu, a large female cat, and Joncrofo, a small, skinny white hen with a red crest and a yellow beak. The Fernandez couple had bought the hen two years before to feed eggs to their children. The hen lived in the kitchen. Despite good care for her comfort, she didn’t lay eggs.

Graciela and Eugenio had moved to the Bronx from their village six years before. They had sold their land and livestock to provide the fare. They had been living in a small apartment in the town. They were hopeful about their progress in the future. Eugenio was working as a porter in Manhattan. He had to do other extra works for his family. He hoped to get promoted to the post of freight-elevator operator. He used to talk to his wife and children about his dream. They would also become happy to hear that. The children had a hope that one day they would become rich and have a TV and telephone. But Mr. Fernandez had a hope to be able to buy a big farm in Puerto Rico.

One morning, Mrs. Fernandez sat in her kitchen and gave a thought to her family condition. They had been facing many economic problems. She looked around the kitchen and saw Joncrofo catching a cockroach. The hen was bad-tempered but the children loved her very much. They were proud of her because their neighbors did not have such a pet. Mrs. Fernandez remembered that she had done everything she could to make the hen produce eggs, but all in vain. She had lost her hope that the hen would ever lay eggs. So, she decided to kill it and cook for her family. It had been six years since she killed the last chicken.

Mrs. Fernandez sharpened the cleaver. She would lie to the children that someone had untied the twine on her foot and when she opened the window she flew away. She told her three children, Olgita, Freddie, and Baby Nancy, not to come into the kitchen. Then, she put a chair across the threshold to block the entrance. When she got ready, Mrs. Fernandez went near to the hen. When she tried to catch the hen, it nipped her finger sharply. Pulling the twine, she tried to catch the hen but the hen kept jumping. Snapping Mrs. Fernandez the second time, it ran away and cackled loudly.

Mrs. Fernandez grabbed a broom and hit the hen with its handle. After some blows, the hen dropped to the floor. When Mrs. Fernandez caught the hen, the three small children started crying. They had been watching their mother trying to kill the hen. Mrs. Fernandez felt helpless. The children had already known. So, they would not eat meat. She wondered what she would do to the hen. Meanwhile, she found that the hen was alive. Then she placed her inside the box and dropped water and rum into her beak. Slowly the hen gained her consciousness. She lied to her younger children that she was trying to give the medicine to the sick hen. The children went back to their play. She put the cleaver and the chopping board away.

Issues :

1. American Dreams

The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.

The Fernandez family moved to the small apartment in the Bronx in the United States hoping to get better opportunities and chances, they thought by moving to America they would get a lot of money and save enough money to buy a farm in Puerto Rico. They imagined having their farm and they can sell such as meat, eggs, and milk to support the family or make it as their dishes. Also, the kids want to buy such as TV, telephone, toys, and treats. Then, after they moved they can’t save enough money. The money that Mr. Fernandez made as a porter of building in Manhattan wasn’t enough to buy everything that they want especially to buy a farm in Puerto Rico as they expected before.

2. Bicultural Identity

Bicultural is the acceptance of both the dominant and home cultures that is within an individual’s identity. The person is able to embrace values from the host and home cultures and engage in positive intercultural exchange.

The Fernandez family is travelers from the periphery to the metropolitan center. The city life was foreign to them, and they had to learn everything, even how to get on a subway and travel. Graciela Fernandez had been frightened at first of the underground trains, traffic, and large crowds of people. Although she finally adjusted, she confined herself to the apartment and seldom went out.