25 “Generating Conversation” by Jiselle Cazares
Jiselle Cazares
Lupita Zavaleta’s writing about coffee plantations and labor in “Xilemas” felt very poignant in its feminist and philosophical themes. As readers, we begin with Sandra and her uneasiness of remembering her mother Margarita. Her mother taught Sandra to tend the roots of coffee beans and work the plantation, which they lived near. Zavaleta writes of the pain manual labor brings these women protagonists. The physical pain is explicitly described, and there’s suggestions of women’s bodies becoming stretched and put through turmoil. As she describes, “Their muscles would endure, they had no choice, because if they didn’t, if they lost control, they could break the roots. They had to learn how to ignore the burning thighs, the tingling calves. To let go of certain parts of the body, almost” (1).
There is a lack of choice and control for these women as well, outside of the literal control it takes to not destroy a plant. However, in this area of their life, at least, the women who work this job have control. Through the third-person limited narration, readers see inside the mind of Sandra, who listens to her mother explain the power behind this hard work. The fruits of their labor go to the world at large, but their work is the origin of all of the coffee in the world. It brings to mind ideas of determinism and Marxism, especially relating to how Margarita is exploited. These women do not have free will in this work—or so it seems, since Sandra goes against it.
Another aspect that is striking about this piece is how After Margarita is injured in an accident, and ultimately dies from it, Sandra is left to wonder what good it was all for; Margarita gave them her blood, sweat, and tears, and they did nothing to help her. She meditates “If they didn’t take care of Margarita, why would Sandra have to take care of them?” (6). She puts lots of stock into the knowledge passed on by her mother, but makes her own path at the end, questioning the capitalistic ties to their work more than Margarita did. While the ending does not address what Sandra chooses as her ultimate path, it includes a section in the second-to-last paragraph where the narration focuses on Margarita and how she is in nature. Even in her death, her memory still holds power for Sandra.
Outside of the strength of Margarita as a character, this piece pays tribute to women who do the hard work of manual labor. As Zavaleta’s narration explains, “They forget the strength required, that’s why men are not good at sowing.” (1). This reinforces how, throughout the story, there is a suggestion that women’s bodies—and more importantly, skills— are superior. In this work, there is a segregation of gender, and Zavaleta often uplifts women, especially in this story, which is focused on the labor of two women, Sandra and Margarita. Men are sidelined, with special focus on the women of the story. While Margarita had an affair with the plantation owner, he is an afterthought in comparison to the relationship between Sandra and her mother.
Zavaleta’s short story “Xilemas” weaves the threads of womanhood, feminism, determinism as a philosophy, and Marxist thought. This short story covers a lot of ground through the relationship between mother and daughter. Their backdrop of a coffee plantation transcends us as readers to question the labor, exploitation, and familial matters connected to the planting of coffee seeds. The blood, sweat, and tears scratches only the surface of coffee’s long history with those who tended to them. Zavaleta’s characters uplift brown women while also generating conversation about coffee and its multi-layered industry throughout various themes and character development.