Luis Saldana

Professor Rodrick
English 115
11/24/17
Acceptance

At any point in life, everyone is going to have to come across the act of acceptance.

Whether it be accepting something about ourselves or accepting anything else, sexual

orientation, beliefs, etc. The author, Luis Alfonso, wrote a story called Minnie Riperton Saved

My Life that demonstrated the problem of having to change his identity to be able to fit into

society. Alfonso and his brother were put into a different school in a completely different

environment. In this new environment, Alfonso doesnt seem to find anyone who is like him. He

attempts to fit in but couldnt when he noticed that he dressed differently and listened to different

music. His love for Jazz wasnt known in this new school, but it was that same genre that later

saved his life. Not Jazz in general but Minnie Riperton as a whole. Riperton was the reason

alfonso fell in love with Jazz in the first place which later became the key to his acceptance of

himself, of who he really is. In the beginning Alfonso was trying to change his identity to fit into

his surroundings but in the end accepted who he really was instead of having to become someone

else that he knew he wasnt. Jazz was there to show him, to let him feel what he was meant to be.

The theme of acceptance can be performed either within our own identity or someone/thing else.

In the beginning, Alfonso just wanted to seem natural in his new environment when he

had to switch schools in a different city. In Alfonsos previous school, the people around him

were a little similar to him with music and the way he dressed but in the new school, the person

who he was in the old school wasnt going to work here. The way his brother and him dressed

made them stand out which led them to having to buy other clothing that would blend in with

everyone else. He also noticed that these people didnt know what Jazz was. So the only way to
make friends at Wilson was to keep soul music inside [his] soul(Alfonso). We see that Wilson

doesnt want to have to make this change but he realizes that no one is going to connect to him in

that way so he has to pretend to listen to their kind of music. With the new students he had to

listen to Eagles and Queen and Alice Cooper and Boston(Alfonso). During school he would

become this new person to be able to fit into the space around there but once he would get out of

the school he would go and listen to Jazz. This portion of the story is a small yet huge example

of how easily Alfonso was able to accept the new environment and become someone who he

wasnt just to fit in even though he had to change a little for it. In the picture, its stated I

wonder if I would be happier if I put as much effort into accepting myself as I do into changing

myself. Changing who he was just to fit in was simple but why couldnt Alfonso do the same

about just accepting the difference and continue dressing the way hes used to and music he

likes. This was just one way he demonstrated acceptance in the beginning but in the end we see

another way he accepted himself.

Towards the end of the story, Alfonso was already deep in

love with the Jazz and had a wonderful effect on him. Jazz was the

thing that had the power to present to him to be able himself and get

involve with others like him instead of doing the opposite. Anywhere

else outside his comfort zone he might not have the success on finding

others like him but with Jazz he was in the world of [his] people. A

world of simple pleasure, of being poor, of downtown street

corners(Alfonso). The description might not be a lot but its enough to let the readers know how

much he was attracted to the music. He gives the readers this sense of you know the feeling

because we all have that type of music that just hits us in the right spot. The way the music gets
us on our feet and makes us dance and love life at the moment. Jazz was Alfonsos love and it

was enough to help him see himself in a better sense. In the end he comes to the sense that he has

the strength to be himself. This was shown when he states I was free. I was a queer Mexican

boy from the barrio, but I was also one of the soul train dancers(Alfonso). He didnt care about

having to listen to songs that he didnt like to fit in whether it was in school or even his family.

All he cared about was that same moment of pure lust where he hit the high-note and felt the

vibe in that moment. We see how Alfonso demonstrated his own acceptance with himself not

only with sexual orientation but as a whole person. This kind of acceptance isnt only focused

within someone but can also be towards a topic. In this case homosexuality.

Tom W. Smith talks about an interesting occurrence that had happened involving the

acceptance of homosexuality in his article, Americans Move Dramatically Toward Acceptance

of Homosexuality Finds GSS Report. He gave credit to NORC at the University of Chicago

who researched that Although sharply divided, public attitudes toward gays and lesbians are

rapidly changing to reflect greater acceptance, with younger generations leading the way. Smith

supports this proposition with statics and changes between the acceptance/hate between towards

homosexuality. He mentioned that comparing the support from people 2 decades ago went from

11 percent approval in 1988 to 46 percent in 2010(Smith). Just from the small information that

was provided we can clearly see that the acceptance of homosexuality grew. Though some

people view it as a negative thing now, we can still say that most of the people are happy with

the change. This shows the same type of acceptance that we saw with Alfonso in both identity

and sexual orientation. These two can both be connected in that way. Though one talks about

within the person and the other towards others, they both still construct a theme of acceptance.

But its not always just about acceptance of our sexuality.

 In this case, theres also the acceptance of losing a loved one. We see the at Alfonso

demonstrated his example of acceptance but Tara Ison also connected to this in her own way of

showing her own acceptance in her story Cactus. In Minnie Saved My Life, Alfonsos main

focus was about how Jazz was able to lead to him accepting who he was but in Cactus, Holly

shows how she accepts not only herself but in a way everything that has happened with Joshs

death and everything after that. She doesnt directly say it to the readers but we can grab the

context when she mentions Each spine taps my blood, then my bones, and this makes me feel

boundless, and vast. This is something I can succumb to, this is something I can feel(Ison). This

way its more visualization rather than literal. Isons goal was not show that Holly was literally

hugging the cactus but for us to see that she accepts what happened and the cactus was the only

reminder. This might not be a direct acceptance to herself but this does follow through the theme

that Alfonso was portraying.

Alfonso was able to express the theme of acceptance in his story in the end when he

agreed that he was a queer mexican boy from the barrio. Readers would see this themselves but

in between lines we see that Alfonso was demonstrating that idea that identity can also be

changed until one can finally accept who they are and who they want to be. Minnie Saved My

Life demonstrated the overall theme while Cactus and the article can support the claim.