Rough Draft.

Scott Wright
English 1b
3/7/11

Rough Draft (The Difference in Rolls of the Bravos)


When Sonny was growing up he never had much of a father figure. It was always Sylvia, his mom, Ceci, his sister, and himself. Father left early on, and not much is said about him in the book. Sylvia is a very pretty  mother who many men are attracted too even as she begins to age. She uses it to her advantage, but still acts a bit younger then a middle aged mother with two kids. In this essay I will be using the reader response theory to break apart how Sonny acts as his own father, and grows to become a man. In that he evolves to be more mature then his own mother. While Sylvia is still stuck in her old ways, and maybe very caring to her son, she is just a teenager stuck in a woman’s body with a beautiful face.
It came to me that Ceci was not just an older sister to Sonny and a daughter to Sylvia. She was a sister to both Sonny and metaphorically to Sylvia. Sonny says about Sylvia, “She would go after Ceci with belts or wooden hangers or what ever was near.” (Gilb,5). Then Sonny says, “ Sometimes both of them would cry for a while during and after, though mostly it was my sister, once she got old enough, and meaner, until she finally stopped being at home much.” (Gilb,5). Sonny says that  eventually they both were not talking to Sonny as much, which he thought was great because he had the whole house to himself. It is that Ceci couldn’t stand being in the same house as some one who treats her like a rivaling sister rather then, the daughter she is. We see a bit of immaturity with Sylvia when Sonny says, “My mom would be around for an hour or two, and she’d change clothes, leave or be tired  and went to her bedroom and went to sleep.”(Gilb,6). Sylvia cannot stand to be in her own house because she knows she will fight with her daughter, Ceci. So instead of actually confronting the problem like a mother should do, she reverts into her child like mentality and just avoids the whole situation and goes shopping, or hangs out with her friends. That leaves Sonny home alone too young to go out. Sylvia is having trouble growing out of the “I’m a beautiful 21 year old girl whose ready to party!”. Sylvia is really single middle aged woman with two children who are in a very needy stage of their life.
Once Sylvia meets this handsome man named Cloyd Longpre she marries him with at a very sudden pace it seems like to the reader. She finds that he is the owner of a apartment complex called The Flowers. Sylvia soon realizes that her daughter Ceci is gone, basically cuts all ties with her and starts her own life. Sylvia decides to get married because I think she is having her mid-life crisis, and starts to feel lonely since her daughter is gone and she cant seem to find a suitable mate. Sylvia then uses Cloyd in this fake marriage to take a second chance and prove to Sonny and her self that she can be a great house wife mother. She put this fake mother hood mask on along with her brand new apron, along with a whole new wardrobe just to look like she fits this perfect step-ford house wife, for Cloyd and to prove to sonny that she can do it. Yet she even make basic food and just uses Cloyds money to go and buy dinner and say she made it so every one can say how good she cooks. Sonny points this out by saying “I knew something was more messed up when Cloyd complimented her on the chili salsa. He might as well have complimented her on the tortilla chips, because she bought them at a store too.”(Gilb, 51). Sylvia married Cloyd to ditch her old habits, yet you can still see her sneaking around behind Cloyd’s back going to bars, and clubs and staying out late. When she comes home she is interrogated by Cloyd, just as if she was her daughter Ceci and she came home late and drunk from a party. Cloyd is constantly asking Sonny where his mom is and he doesn’t even know himself. She begins to realize that she might have married the wrong person for all the wrong reasons, money. Sylvia hysterically complains about Cloyd to Sonny,
“Do you know he cares about toilet paper?”
“What?”
“He cares about toilet paper. How much is used.”(Gilb,50)
Sylvia slowly starts to realize that she is going to have to live with the choice she made. And tries very hard to make things work. This is when you see her start to grow up into the mother that she should be, not the too hot to trot with two kids she once was. Instead of packing her bags and making a new move she decides to sick close. While I respect her for that

Should I speak about sonny as well or continue about Sylvia and extend it out with more details?
And  harsh criticism on the introductory paragraph and the title would be nice.