Book report on Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes

The project asked the student to write a five page book report answering the following question:

Explain the theme of The Hammon and The Beans by Americo Paredes and the underlying message of the work

About the Solutions
The first two pages of the book report are reproduced below:

The story of Hammon and the Beans has been written by Américo Parédes and he tells the tale of Mexican American children who are living an improvised life. The setting of the story is in 1926 within a town that is situated south of Texas called Jonesville-on-the-Grande. Located near the town is a fort named Fort Jones and this setting as well the locations described in the story tie in with the authors hometown as well as the fort near his house that was used to keep soldiers while the Mexican American war was taking place and then the fort became a border post that housed soldiers (Saldívar, 2006).

The story itself revolves around children who are not part of the situation but are involved in it as observers who are somewhat effected by the unease of the world around them. However, they do not fully understand the implications of what they are going through. The tone of the tale itself is set by the narrator who is a part of the group of children in the story but he remains unnamed. At the same time, his descriptive powers are quite good since he manages to show the readers exactly the life he was living including the house of his grandfather (Paredes, 1994).

One of the details given by the narrator which stands out from amongst the rest is the idea that the life of the town was perfectly in tune with the life that was being followed at the fort. In essence, it establishes a link between the fort and the town which is not dependent on the manner in which the functioned but in how the town was governed by the sounds and noises coming from the fort. For example, a whistle that was blown in the fort meant that it was time for the children to go school and the townspeople generally took their lunch at the same time as the people in the fort (Paredes, 1994).

The narrator is not rich but is by no means poor either. In fact, he appears to belong to the higher strata of society than others around him simply because his family is able to give refuge to others when they need it. The boy tells the readers about the issues that are coming up around the Mexican American border in his own way and uses that story to introduce a family living on a lot of land given by his grandfather to that family. The mother of that household did the washing for the narrator’s family out of a sense of gratitude but it is the daughter of the family which becomes more interesting for the readers and the narrator (Paredes, 1994).

Chonita is one of the individuals the narrator plays with but she is also a member of his family group in some ways. Her father remains away from the family but her mother remains in the shack which is on the land owned by the narrator’s grandfather. However, as compared to the narrator, Chonita seems to be much bolder and she also shows how her needs get the better of her. At night, after the soldiers had had their dinners, the leftovers were handed to Chonita by the cooks who took pity on her (Paredes, 1994).

Other Details about the Project/Assignment
Subjects: English Literature
Topic: Book report on Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes
Level: High School
Tags:

Book report, Hammon and the Beans, Américo Parédes

Price: $2.95

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Mike Carver
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Project Details

Subjects: English Literature
Topic: Book report on Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes
Level: High School
Tags:

Book report, Hammon and the Beans, Américo Parédes

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Book report on Hammon and the Beans by Americo Paredes

Book report, Hammon and the Beans, Américo Parédes

Book report, Hammon and the Beans, Américo Parédes