Snaps By Rhina Espaillat Analysis

 The Picture of Perfection         

 In the poem “Snaps,” the poet Rhina Espaillat uses the literary element of imagery to convey the gender role dilemma that an unidentified girl has to endure in order to defend her identity and sexuality in a “normal” society where  tradition tries to contain her potentiality  as a gender and individual. 

             Espaillat begins Snaps with the definition of a  “good girl” in an unknown society and the dilemma of gender roles and social expectation that the protagonist is forced to endure in order to defend her sexuality and identity from an early age. Since the first stanza of the poem, Espaillat describes that a “good girl” is stereotyped as a “neatly dressed/ you look in your white middy, that old light/ flat on your featureless expanse of chest”( Rhina 1) in this first picture at 7 years old. Literally, this stanza illustrates the image of a shy child who is dressed elegantly to have a photograph of herself being taken for eternity in a traditional white and black dress and elegant pose  by an unknown photographer. When one look deeper, however, this quote reveals that a good girl is just considered as an individual who appears to be neat, puritan or even virgin whose purpose in life is to maintain a certain cleanliness, innocence or even purity that does not rely on her sexual attributes or body to draw attention to herself. Rather, one can assume that intelligence and a certain level of self control is encouraged intentionally from her parents and school in order to prevent the release of her sexuality and sexual awareness to lead a search of their own identity. Because the protagonist is just 7 years old, one can assume that she is not interested in any of this, but rather, she is focused on playing  and her school chorus in a time where racial tension and a neutral position was the norm in 1939. 

When one listens to the tone of the narrator, however, there is something more sinister going down to this child. Because white is the color, traditionally, accepted as the norm for a bride who married virgin or pure, one can assume that Rhina alludes that this society values virginity and marriage as the norm for women who turned up to become servants of their husband and it's traditions from a young age. Indirectly, this scene portrays the idea that this girl is being trained to become the design of a good little wife who sells the notion of innocence in order to being sell as a property to a future husband in the future by the photographer and the audience itself who it is witness to this crime, but, who does not nothing to defend the honor and innocence of this child who it is at early stages of life. Even though it is not mentioned, one can assume that the protagonist is trying to look for her inner self for the first time apart from her parents or the outer world in order to discover who she really is.  

The evilness of this society, apparently, is the notion that it is training the protagonist to contain her sexuality “flat on your featureless expanse of chest” like a nun has to lie horizontally facing the floor in the habit-taking ceremony in order to become a social death figures who vows to leave her sexuality and desires behind to served, be poor, be pure, obedience etc to become wife of god. Like a nun, the protagonist seems to have abandoned her earthly pleasures and temptations in order to embrace a lack of fear or motivation to remain in this world that may be capable of anything.

Equally, this color white reinforced this idea of the unidentified protagonist as a bride who must maintain her “goodness” in order to be part of this society who, ironically, must kill her socially or objectify her as a broom’s possession to become less sexual to be taken in. The fact that the society is minimizing the self-esteem or even confidence of this girl by capturing her in a society stuck in the past and what it considered to be classic when Rhina states “Good little girl” in order to easily controlling her and maintained decorum which it is embraced by not showing skin or being provocative. But, “Is she really pure or innocent for the clothes that she is wearing?” 

    In the second stanza, Rhina reinforces this idea of gender role and social expectation when she illustrates a photo of the protagonist 10 years later “And here, a decade on, at seventeen--/ nice girl with ankles crossed, hands in your lap’s/ small bounded nest, gold crossed again the clean/ sweater -- ah, Lana Turner! But perhaps” (Rhina 1). This stanza portrays a young lady who is on her transition from her teens years to adulthood and sitting properly waiting for a picture of herself being taken by an omnipresent photographer. The protagonist who appeared to be neat, which indirectly, might indicate a healthy and even mental stability in a psychological term appeared to practice or believe in a christian religion.

An interesting image that the author emerged into Snaps is the cross that the protagonist is holding on her neck or visible to the public. Literally, the cross could be taken as a sign of the christian belief that the protagonist holds dear. In the other hand, the cross served as a reminder that Jesus was crucified and  murder in the cross in order to serve humanity from their sin. In this poem, the fact that the protagonist is wearing a cross might support the idea that the protagonist, just like the symbol of a cross or holy virtue that the protagonist owned, become a sign of oppression and colonialism. 

The fact that the protagonist is wearing a sweater might suggest that the weather is cold or the idea that she does not want to show any type of skin or being perceived in a sexual manner.  There seems to be a transition from a lack of choice and sexuality to an interest in her sexuality that seems to be obtained since she was 7 years old. The reference to “Lanar Turner” who was a sexual symbol figure in the 40s and an actress could indirectly imply that the protagonist could have been influenced by her and the time itself to become the owner of her own sexuality. In addition, the influence of Lana could have led the protagonist to embrace a double life where she must live by the standard of what is expected of her and what she really wanted. As a result, one can assume that a distorcionate of the fantasy and reality will become an actress who did not who she really was.

In the third stanza, Espaillat writes “they knew less than they thought they knew, who thought/ they had your number and could quite ordain/ your choice of road. The camera that caught/ your young, obedient pose noted the strain” (Rhina 1) to express the expectation attached to the protagonist. Rhina allows us, the audience, to imagine who the “they” are. On one hand, one can speculate that the “they” are the parents or society itself who basically does not know who these children are. Rather, they just see what they want from these teens from what the children illustrated to them in public, rather, than who they really are. So, one can assume that the children are forced to embrace a persona in front of the parents and express who they really are with individuals who are too outcast and who would  not judge them on any level. The parents or the members of society thought, innocently, that they know who their children really are, yet they do not take the time and chance to really know their children. For these individuals and institutions indirectly, the children become “number” rather than individuals with rights, identity or decision. The children become numbers who were reduced to something less than animals who do not deserve to be identified by name, but rather, something impersonal and mathematical rather than humans. In a way, they are being turned into inmates who have no choice over their life or their decision. The thing that this tactic implements is to reinforce the dehumanization of individuals to numbers which reminds them that they are less than humans. Innocently, one can assume that this technique of assigning numbers is to distinguish them in case that there is another inmate with the same name, but once we look deeper, however one can assume that depriving of a human qualities to decide for herself is torture. Because the notion of being taken a picture during the 50s and 60s was a big deal because it was generally committed by an individual who used to have money or economical means, one can assume that the fact that the protagonist is photographed by herself is significant because it was an expensive procedure during this time for her family. The notion that she is not being photographed with her family could be read like either she was a minority that her family did not represent or accepted or she was not included in the family freely due to her independent and rebellious ideas as the majority would probably feared. In a way, the protagonist has become a virus or even a threat to the social values, status quote and even conservative values that must be either   controlled, contained and even killed before it spreads its revolutionary or rebellion to others especially if these changes would be providing mobility and social advances to women to release their potentiality. The irony, however, is the fact that the society did not seem interested in its women’s liberation or freedom, but rather, they seem interested in controlling the choice of the characters to decide officially what they want to do with their life when Espaillat mentions “they had your number and could quiet ordain your choice of road.” 

    If the “they” would have referred to men as the figures of authority, one can assume that they were trying to control women. Unconsciously, the author Espaillat leaves out the identity of the “they” which are the figures and  the protagonist to provide cover and a sense of anonymity to the characters that allowed them to express themselves freely. On the other hand, one can assume that she is allowing any member of society to be associated with the characters. The fact that Rhina Espaillat protects the identity of the figures such as the photographer, the mother and the “they” indirectly protects the values of oppression through the use of gender roles and social oppression that these individuals enforced against the women. In a way, it is through their invisibility that these individuals become the main source of oppression. Cleverly, Espaillat is not focusing blame on any gender, but rather, she might allude that this problem becomes an universal dilemma that affects us despite our gender. The option that Rhina provides is to use the words and art itself to provide light to this issue. Why is the voice of the protagonist and the photographer muted or non-existence?  

    An interesting image that Rhina alludes to is a form of rebellion  that is exposed with the “strain” on the protagonist. On one hand, one can assume that the protagonist is probably tense because she is not a model or a frequent subject in front of a camera who it is comfortable or confidence, as a result, one can see signs of tension in her shoulder or  face that might illustrate a distorcionated of her peace or the design pose that she was supposed to maintain. One association of the word “stain” is a blood mark or discoloration in the scene of a crime that might be visible or even hide in place sight that might reveal a history with the use of luminol or any other chemical that might be invisible to the naked eye. If the stain is a sign of rebellion against the pose of obedience that she is being assigned, one can assume that she is not submitting to this docile of medication, but rather, she is trying to break away discretely or rebelling against its form of existence in order to be free and become alive rather than a social death figure. 

Espaillat further expressed “behind its ease, surprised a certain look/ I don’t remember in our common face,/ as if a passage in some plain old book/ opened into an unexpected place.” (Rhina ?). In other words, this stanza illustrates a certain sense of recognition and even awareness from the oppressors or the figures of authority of being fooled or even deceived by the role that the protagonist was embraced now that is even surprising to the protagonist herself. One can assume that the protagonist used to believe that she did not have on her to snap away from this design created by the society who used to limit her, yet,  when she  realized it she became free and fearless to discover everything by herself.  On the other hand, this scene could imply that the protagonist was discovered in the act of changing from one role to the other that she has mattered, yet society did not seem to be aware that she has one. Indirectly, the protagonist has moved beyond the expectations that were assigned to her persona and gender. In addition, Espaillat supports this idea when she mentions that  one look has distorcionates the values away from the previous generations even if the facial traits have remained the same. In other words, the protagonist and her ancestor could have looked the same way physically, yet a sense of vision or even dominion of sexuality have been acquitted that the other predecessors of the same gender did not have ,or  at least, the courage to embrace. 

Indirectly, Espaillat reveals that it is through the “passage in some plain old book” that the protagonist has found the courage to stand up for what she believes one can assume. The passage has turned into a salvation that the protagonist could relate more than her biological relatives that have allowed her the power to transition to possibility, freedom, and even self awareness of her identity away from a group’s mentality or mundane dilemma to something more transcendental. In a way, the protagonists representing a new generation have values, ideas, and beliefs differences from the previous generations that allowed them a certain mobility and advanced than their parents did not due to fear or remaining stuck on the design of appearance.

     Equally, Espaillat mentions“Where did you get it, that sharp tilt of jaw,/ small thrust of hip and shoulder not in keeping / with Mama’s touch that bent you to the law,/ to sanctities of custom/ Something sleeping” (Rhina 1).  The figures of authority or even the mother who are the ones who seem to be enforcing this lack of sexuality or identity seem to be using the law who aimed to protect and served to convert women and the protagonist herself into social death figures who are not in dominion of nothing. The irony, however, is that the protagonist have find a way to snap away from this slavery to become master of their own universe. In order to accomplish this, they obtained access to their identity, senxuality and autonomy from the law who seemed motivated to make them prisoners or dependent on it. In a way, Rhina paints a movement of the hips and shoulders which are vital body parts to dance with sazon to indicate that they obtained a seductiveness and sexuality that made them instead prisoners of their gender. In a way, a system which was formulated to tame or even contain their sexuality in order to keep with the basic custom and principles of patriarchy have been corrupted by a desire to sleep or pretend to be. 

In the last stanza, Espaillat expresses “when you were told you would not cross this line/ or that, talk back, be anything but good, /risk anything- is flashing me a sign,/ across the film of years, that yes, we would.” (Rhina 1) Rhina seems to be encouraging  the  protagonist to move away from the gender role and social expectations attached to her gender whose purpose seems to be to limit or control her from releasing her potentially to the fullest by creating any barrier to accomplish it. Clearly, one can see that the protagonist who represents women and , including the audience, are being encouraged by Espaillat to have the courage to take dominion of their sexuality and identity in order to be in charge of their road despite their ancestor and even their social expectation. Espaillat is trying to encourage the individuals to snap away even if they are women or minorities by rebelling and speaking up for themselves even if they have to risk anything in order to obtain their freedom to decide for themselves as an oath that can not be broken despite time. 

As you can see, the gender role and social expectation of any individuals served as a way to limit them from releasing their potential and being owners of themselves. As a consequence, Rhina encourages individuals to break away from it on Snaps in order to obtain Absolute freedom to begin without limits.