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Blake Marquez
English 101
9 May 2017
He Wasnt the Saint She Deserved, But the One She Needed
In the book Still Water Saints, the story is focused around a store called a Botanica
where a wide variety of characters come to see Perla the owner of the shop; these characters are
all facing some kind of personal problem or sickness. Most of them believe that Perla has some
kind of magical power that allows her to heal or help people with their problems. However I am
going to be focusing mainly on Miguel; one of the characters who actually doesnt visit Perlas
Botanica. Miguel works in the grocery store with Rosa who is one of Perlas customers; A lot of
controversy circulates Miguel not only from readers but as well as other characters in the novel;
this is mainly due to the fact that he was recently released from jail, even though all he wants to
do is piece his life back together. After working with each other for a while Miguel and Rosa fall
for each other which is what sparks the controversy from other characters; mostly due to the fact
that she is 16 and he is 27. Despite his controversial past I still consider Miguel to be saint like.
He wasnt the happiest person in the story there were definitely some points in the story where I
could tell he wasnt happy with certain aspects of his life, on the other hand, he always had the
kept a positive attitude; always looking to the bright side of things. Miguel was the only
character who loved Rosa for who she was, and never once tried to change her in any kind of
way; unlike some of the other characters that interacted with Rosa, like her own mother. Who
would constantly put her down about her physical appearance which Im sure is the source of all
Rosas insecurities; Miguel literally proved her mom wrong by falling in love with Rosa, and
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proving to her that she didnt need to change anything about herself to find love; and this
empowered her and gave her the confidence she needed to move pasts her insecurities.
In the novel its no secret that Miguel is not living a life of luxury; recently released from
jail, and working as a bagger in a grocery store. I know from my own personal experience of
working in a grocery store can demand a large amount of your time and energy with very little
reward; so Im sure hes making just enough money to pay for his apartment, car, and enough
food to keep himself healthy and not much else. That being said, Im sure that was the best job
he could get quickly after being incarcerated; in the article After Incarceration, What Next?,
the author talks a lot about the biggest issues that people recently released from incarceration
face when trying to rejoin society, stating that, the stigma of having an arrest during ones
lifetime hurts an applicants job prospects more than virtually any other factor. These include
certificate as opposed to a high school diploma.(7), In other words, having any kind of criminal
record will hurt your chances of getting a job more than people who need government ran
assistance programs and even people who dont have a diploma. In the online blog titled, The
Challenges of Prisoner Re-Entry Into Society, the author talks a lot about what its like for
inmates once theyve been released from incarceration, saying that Often viewed as sub-
citizens, ex-offenders are perpetually punished for crimes. The causes of these restrictions are
systemic and affect ex-offenders at all levels of society.(2), basically saying that ex-offenders
are constantly punished for their crimes by both the justice system and society even after
incarceration; due mainly because of how we view them after being released. Now you may be
wondering what all of this has to do with Miguel; even though he was released into a failed
system designed to keep him from succeeding and into a society that constantly looks down upon
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ex-offenders rather they have been rehabilitated or not; yet he still continues to keep a positive
outlook on life and never lets anything get him down which I consider to be a very admirable
quality about him, not to mention that it brings positive energy and thoughts to the people around
him.
One of the most controversial subjects in the novel was Miguel and Rosas relationship;
several characters in the story did not agree with their relationship, specifically Rosas mom who
is not happy about her daughters new boyfriend being out on parole. Not to mention, the nine
year age gap between the two of them, furthermore, I discovered that a lot of people including a
majority of my fellow classmates found their relationship to be taboo; the reasoning behind this
majority opinion was due simply to the fact that Miguel was so much older than Rosa. However,
I think it is completely unfair for people to make this assumption when there are countless
relationships where the age gap is nine years or higher; now some people may say its different
because Rosa is still under 18 and I do understand that its a law, but I believe that the only thing
that should be used to make any kind of assumption about their relationship is the connection
they have with each other. In the article, Does Age Really Matter in Relationships?, the author
states that, The most important question tends to be not one of age but of compatibility and
maturityboth emotional and spiritual.(20) In other words, we should just focus on making
sure that two people are congruent and right for each other, because relationships are way too
complex to be decided over something so simple. The point being, that Miguel and Rosa were
right for each other this is clearly shown by the success of their relationship throughout story,
and he proved how much he loved her. His love is what proved to her that every negative
Even though Miguel was released back into society through a system designed to keep
him from succeeding; he continues to stay positive and actually manages to start to put his life
back together. Furthermore, he and Rosa fell in love with each other; and he showed her that the
only thing that ever kept her from realizing her own beauty was the negative thoughts and
comments of others around her. I believe it is the positive energy and thoughts that he carries
himself with that makes him so saint like, you could even say that this energy can empower
Baptiste, Nathalie. "After Incarceration, What Next?" The American Prospect. The American
Plowman, Jonathan. "Does Age Really Matter in Relationships?" LDS Living. LDSLiving, 03