Ana Castillo's The Mixquiahuala Letters

Ana Castillo's The Mixquiahuala Letters is a novel about the difficulty of friendship in which the shared past of two women, Alicia and Teresa, is recounted and reflected on in letters from Teresa. But this simple description belies the wealth of complications in the novel; not the least of which is the breakdown of the friendship or, at least, of the communication between the pair. For, despite the intensity of the connection over the decade they have known each other, the letters from Teresa make it clear that the two women have, in the long run, missed each other--in the sense of never having managed to fully comprehend each other. The immediately apparent cause of this failed connection is the random noise generated by patriarchal power plays that seems to clutter up their channels of communication. The problem, however, also casts a wider net. The difficulty the two women face, which is symbolized by their geographic distance from each other, is the variety and number of differences between them. Despite the fact that their relationship was initially based on having spontaneously overcome difference, and in spite of Teresa's literary efforts to destroy the barriers between her self and Alicia's other, there is a separateness that cannot be fully overcome. Coming from an artist who works with words Teresa's letters represent her creative attempt to understand and break down the walls between them--the walls that have traditionally kept each woman separate from nea

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ir similarities. Yet it points ironically to the fact that in any other setting difference is constantly forced on their attention. Thus the title of the book contains both the summit of their indifference to difference and the promise that it would dominate their relationship. In large part the letters consist of the attempt by Teresa the writer to understand and eliminate the difference between them. As Gonzales-Berry notes, Castillo manages this very effectively by making maximum use of the epistolary form she has chosen. Letters are usually dated, addressed, and signed and are, therefore, easily placed. Knowing who wrote what when and where, and to whom, provides a sense of order and gives the reader a feeling that the narrative is firmly under control. All this information is plainly displayed for the reader and the narrative will not be able to veer off in any uncertain or confusing directions. The implied dialogue, and the stated names, dates and other epistolary details, present two easily identified characters; the writing self and the addressed other. But this tidy pattern quickly begins to break down (if one reads the whole text in the order printed) as letters are undated, signatures are missing, and greeting

Category: Literature - A