Borderlands - Nicholas DeVillacian

In chapter four of Borderlands we continue to dig into the culture of the chicano's. We learn about the Coatlicue state which is a mentality of sorts that passes through your psyche in the form of the Earth Mother. When the Coatlicue state takes over your ideas of life and death are stirring through out your mind. You begin to question your existence and your purpose. In this chapter Anzaldua seems to stress the importance of culture and practices to us. She uses many chicano terms and phrases and really emphasizes the importance of the culture, not only in their daily routines, but in their mental states as well.
In chapter five we start with an analogy of the dentist trying to remove and correct the teeth of Gloria but he is having a hard time because her tongue is getting in the way. I really liked this analogy because it serves a good summary for the chapter I was about to read. Through the takeover of the borderland and Mexico, the whites insisted on imperializing the entire Mexican life. Not only did they take over the governments and the economy but they wanted to take over language as well. The whites saw the "wild tongue" of the Mexicans as a threat and attempted to defamize it. The language was seen as low class, and the closer you were to speaking proper standard english, the more respected and better off you were. To be ridden of your language was a terrible thing. It really was a toppling point in the take over of the tex-mex land. It may not have been noticable but through this technique of inferiorizing the Spanish language the souls and spirits of the people were brought down.
The last two chapters, six and seven, actually go against the attempts of the imperial whites. Gloria tells of her love and passion for reading and writing and how even though the odds are against her, she will still do what she loves, and preach what she believes. Glorias story in itself is the symbol for victory. She is the author she wanted to be and she has achieved the things she has wanted, in order to save the culture of the chicano, use the spanish language proudly and overcome the injustices a woman had to overcome in the borderlands.