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The Chupacabra
Did you know that 8,000 migrants die when trying to cross the Mexican border? Well legend says that this may be the doing of the Chupacabras. In folklore the Chupacabras is a beast who sucks the blood of the people trying to cross the border.In her depiction of the Chucacabras in Summer of the Mariposas, Guadalupe Garcia McCall maintained many characteristics of the original story so that it is recognizable, but modernized the tale by having the Chupacabras be able to shapeshift into a little boy and have the Chupacabras not be willingly evil to illustrate the theme theme that things aren’t always what they appear to be.
In Summer of the Mariposas and The Tale of El Chupacabra there are many similarities. One similarity is that they both are spiky and have red eyes. In Summer of the Mariposas on page 230. “ I peered into the darkness and saw a red eyeball glowering at me. It was the chupacabras,...The long, sharp quills running along its back stood straight up…” In this quote we get a description for the chupacabras that says that it has spiky quills on its back and that the chupacabras has red eyes. In The Tale of El Chupacabra it has the same general description. “It has big glowing eyes and very sharp spikes on its back.” This shows that both stories have the same description of the chupacabras.
In addition another similarity is that in both stories, the chupacabras drains blood. In Summer of the Mariposas page 230-231. “It was the chupacabras, clutching and sucking on Pita’s right leg…Then it lifted its head, opened its blood mouth, and hissed at me.” This shows that the chupacabras was trying to drain Pita’s blood. In The Tale of El Chupacabra this also happens. “There have been many times when farmers would wake up to go feed their animals in the morning , only to find them lying on the ground dead and completely drained of their blood.” This shows in The Tale of El Chupacabra, the monster also sucks blood.
One last simularie is in both stories the chupacabra fails to kill all the people they were trying to suck the blood of. In Summer of the Mariposas page 236. “... without hesitation the chupacabras jumped up and ran off. We stood side by side, four little sisters, holding our weapons at our sides ready to defend our baby sister as we watched him disappear into a new dawn.” With this quote we see that all 5 sisters survived and the chupacabra failed to kill them. In The Tale of El Chupacabras. “The next morning, we could see sunlight shining into the tunnel from the other end. We finally found our way out of the other end and escaped el Chupacabra!” This quote shows that the chupacabra failed to catch the final two people it was chasing. This is why there are many similarities between the chupacabra in Summer of the Mariposas and The Tale of El Chupacabra.
There are also many differences between the chupacabra in Summer of the Mariposas and The Tale of El Chupacabra. One difference is in Summer of the Mariposas the chupacabra isn’t organized in who they kill, while in The Tale of El Chupacabra the chupacabra only kills people trying to go to America. In The Tale of El Chupacabra. “There have been many tales of people trying to cross the border like we are, only to disappear. Many seem to believe that el Chupacabra got to them before they reached the United States.” This shows that the chupacabra in The Tale of El Chupacabra only kills those who try to go to America.
Another difference is who was injured/ killed in these stories. In Summer of theMariposas page 230. “ It was the chupacabras, clutching and sucking on Pita’s right leg…” This shows us that the chupacabra hurt Pita, but she was not killed, but that’s quite the contrary to what happens in The Tale of El Chupacabra. In The Tale of El Chupacabra.”My father then walked off into the darkness. After several minutes had passed, my mom was worried when my dad did not return…she finally had found him with her flashlight. His body was lying on the ground, lifeless and drained of all of his blood.” This shows that, unlike the chupacabra in Summer of the Mariposas, the chupacabra in The Tale of El Chupacabra was able to kill a family member.
One last difference between the chupacabra in the Summer of the Mariposa and The Tale of El Chupacabra is that in Summer of the Mariposas the chupacabra can shapeshift into a boy and in The Tale of El Chupacabra, the chupacabra doesn’t shapeshift. In the Summer of the Mariposas on page 168. “ I picked up my rifle and shot at it… shot it through it through it’s left eye.” And on page 231. “ This time I stood up and stabbed at his face with all my might. The stake went into his right eye.” This shows that throughout Summer of the Mariposas, the chupacabra was completely blinded, while in The Tale of El Chupacabra it was only stabbed in the leg. “ I then stabbed the creature in the leg with a crowbar.” This shows that the chupacabra was nowhere nearly as hurt as the chupacabra in Summer of the mariposas. This shows there are many differences between the chupacabra in Summer of the Mariposas and The Tale of El Chupacabra.
There are many similarities and differences between the Summer of the Mariposas chupacabra and The Tale of El Chupacabra. Again the main similarities are that they both are spiky and have red eyes, both chupacabras drain blood, and in both stories the chupacabra fails to kill all the people they were trying to suck the blood of. Furthermore, the main differences between the two are that in Summer of the Mariposas the chupacabra isn’t organized in who they kill, while in The Tale of El Chupacabra the chupacabra only kills people trying to go to America, who was injured/ killed in these stories, and Summer of the Mariposas the chupacabra can shapeshift into a boy and in The Tale of El Chupacabra, the chupacabra doesn’t shapeshift. In addition I think the new version of the chupacabra in Summer of the Mariposas can help us see that things aren’t always what they seem.
Impending doom
Impending doom
Luna polilla: "Ven niña mía, ven a mí para que
me devuelvas una nueva."
Luna moth: "Come my child, come to me so you can return a new"
“Fine, have it your way . But we’re gonna get caught if he doesn’t look half alive,” Juanita argued as I left to walk along the river to clear my head. I can't believe they want to take a dead man across the border. I need to stop them, but so far my only plan is to turn in the body to border patrol. The only thing wrong with that plan is that I have no idea what the border patrol will decide to do. For all I know they could decide to send us to Juvie for stealing from a dead man and dressing him up. It’s insane!
If only we hadn’t been swimming in the Rio Grande, then we wouldn’t have to be stuck between a rock in a hard place… “I need to calm down, it'll all be okay Odalia, all I need to do is keep my sisters safe.” I say to myself as I see a Luna polilla land on a tree nearby surrounded by bush and shrubbery. “ Huh, that’s weird. Usually these kind of moths stay near Canada and the north border.” point out as I walked closer to the moth.
As soon as the moth noticed me it flew onto my head and buried itself in my matty hair. As soon as the moth disappears from my sight I hear a wail. “ my child,” and I see a weird looking shadow appearing on the trees in the distance. “ Howwwwlllllllllll!”I heard from the beast. It sounded like a Husky but bigger and it had a nasty howl different from that of a Husky. And furthermore a bony hand burst out from a bush and pulled me in. “Ahhhh.” I screamed “ shoosh, look I don’t have time to explain in detail but that monster will find you and then your sisters if you don’t hide in the river.” The women warned as she put her hand over my mouth, not allowing me to speak. She looked like a tired mother suffering. With not much choice as the monster's roars grew louder I took one last breath and dived into the water below.
When I awoke I found myself tied dangerously close to the tide of the water in a misty place filled with fog and moths. The figure from the bush was on the bank smiling “Odalia, it looks to me you’ll be joining my family soon, and so are your sisters.” said the figure as she held out a cradle filled with coal. “ For I am La Llorona and you will drown while your sister will be struck to death.” She had said as the water level rises. “ No!” I yelled as my body's last word escaped me.
I woke up on the bank as my limbs felt stiff, there was a note next to an ear pendant with five rings. The note said “ The original Odalia is no longer able to protect her sister,you'll have to be her stand in, when you need help, spin the pendent and call to me, The Aztec Queen. You only get five wishes. As I picked up the pendent and walked back to the girls in a dazed state, with my lungs burning. I wondered who had left the pendent their, and if I’m truly me.
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