Customer Reviews

Bitita's Diary: The Childhood Memoirs of Carolina Maria de Jesus (Latin American Realities)

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Bitita's Diary is the testimonial of a poor Brazilian woman named Carolina Maria de Jesus. Carolina grew up in the 1920s and 1930s. She lived in both the city as well as the countryside, and clearly recalls the rough living conditions she had to endure. This book dose not only describe what it was like to live in poverty, but also gives you the unique perspective of a poor woman in a patriarchial society. I found this book to be very informative. Carolina understandably writes about the terrible living conditions she had to endure, but also gave some thought to political policies, and their impact on society. While there was a lot of valuable information found throughout the book I feel that if the information was better organized into seperate arguments the book might be a more valid resource. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about women in latin America.

Bitita's Diary tells the story of a Brazilian mulatta, Carolina Maria de Jesus, also know as Bitita, and the struggles that she had faced throughout her life. This testimony reveals the hardships that Bitita had to endure regarding poverty and inequality. Not only does this novel give the reader a sense of what she had to go through, but also shows how strong Bitita was by never giving up. While reading, we are able to understand the conditions that she grew up in and also learn how she was rejected by her family and made fun of by others. After reading Bitita's Diary, I have a better understanding of the hardships that people go through in other countries, but I have learned that these people do not give up instead, strive for a better live.

I enjoyed this novel. It was very educational and related very well to class material. This novel helped to explain ideas such as discrimination by race and class, Latin American Culture, and feminism. My favorite chapter, The Godmothers, is very important to the rest of the novel because gives background into the rest of family. I would recommend this books if you wish to further explore Latin American culture and values.

"Bitita's Diary" by Carolina Maria de Jesus was a very interesting testimonial about a young black girl growing up in Brazil. Bitita had to face many obstacles throughtout her life, beginning in her childhood years. Many people in her onw family would (did) not accept her because of her dark skin and kinky hair. She was not allowed to enter the homes of her mulatto relatives. Bitita was treated different from her brother because he was of a lighter complextion. She was very curious as a child which irritated her mother and older relatives (she would constantly question different theories/aspects of life. As Bitita grew up she found that life was difficult, and she had to work very hard to maintain in society. For example, Bitita was very sick and was had an infection in her leg; yet she still worked on that leg as much as she could until she could not work anymore. In all, this book was a great exapmle of a testimonial. You were able to view the world as Bitita saw it and see the hardships that she had to face throughout her life.

Bitita's Diary by Carolina Maria de Jesus is an excellent testimonial about Bitita's life and obstacles she went through. She had to deal with gender, race, and class in her lifetime. Her own relatives did not accept her when they found out she was of lower class then them. Bitita tried to make the best of what she had or would move on to see what else the world could offer her. One time she left her mother and joined a convent. When she realized that she made the choice of no social life she had to leave the convent that provided her with food, a bed, and medicine and go back to living on the streets but had her freedom back to herself. I though this story was an inspirational testimony that shows a young girl who had to struggle in her life that tried to remain true to herself. I would recommend this story to anyone, especially women.

In the book Bitita's Diary, by Carolina Maria de Jesus, we could see the struggles of a young girl as she grew up in a poor town as a person of color. We could see the obstcles that she needed to overcome because of her gender, race, and class. This book was very enjoyable to read, because you could actually put yourself in her positon, and see how hard her life really was. In the beginning her realtives who were of higher class, took Bitita in and gave her sweets and other things that were never given to her. As the aunt realizes that she is of a much lower class, and others were noticing her generosity to someone not as important in society, she soon shuts Bitita out just like others had. On the other hand Bitita was lucky in the fact that she got to attend school and become educated. Bitita did gain many opportunities to earn money so that she could survive. This is why it seemed ironic that Bitia would leave a job or shelter that she had been taken in at. In understaning Bitia's thinking we can see why she would do such a thing. She is a descendent of slaves, therefore she would maybe have a feeling of being held captive. Her mother also beat her, but then again her mother also knew of the struggles they would encounter, but needed to overcome so that they could survive in this town, so she could relate to her. Although Bitita did have hard times, she was better off than most other people like her. Bitita did realize the gifts that were given to her, but also kept in her mind the importance of her heritage.

Bitita's Diary by Carolina Maria de Jesus is a wonderful testimonial depicting the life of a poor, black, Brazilian woman. Bitita takes the reader first hand through her life from a young girl to a mature woman. Most importantly, this book opened my eyes to class, gender, and race relations in Latin America. Not only is Bitita discriminated against because she is black, but she also feels discrimination because she is poor and a woman. Despite her misfortunes and sicknesses, Bitita becomes quite educated (mainly self-taught). Through Carolina Maria de Jesus' style of writing, the reader can see just how spunky and inquisitive of a child Bitita was. The innocence of a child can see truths and wrongs quite easily, unlike us adults. Not only does Bitita question these wrongs - she argues them loudly and openly. For this, I admire Bitita. This book was an easy read because of the author's frankness and honesty. The background settings were well explained which lead to the complete understanding of why Bitita acted the way she did. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Latin American culture, or the plight of gender, class, and race issues.

I had to read "Bitita's Diary" for my Women of Latin America class in college. I don't think I would have read it otherwise, but I'm glad it was assigned. It is a testimonial that offers insight into the life and hardships of a young, literate, black girl growing up in Brazil in the 1920's. It deals primarily with the inter-relation of class, race, and gender. She challenges "official history" by telling us, the reader, what we have not, or possibly do not want to, hear about the past. This book would be great for teachers to give to thier students to read. It is literaly written fairly simplistic, but the words have so much meaning behind them that touch on issues of injustice- injustices that are still occurring today.

Bitita's Diary, from Brazil, is an interesting and easy to follow factual book. They way life was for Bitita and her family is so vastly different than my own experience that it helped open my eyes to the world and the ways things are for some people in different places. She writes of her life when she was younger, always being inquisitve and wanting to help her fellow man. She is a bright girl with many grown up thoughts about the world- even if they are stated in a way that a child would express themself. She is a strong woman in a time of great gender, race, and class discrimination. It is a testimonial of her life trials and of the people and way of life surrounding her. Carolina Maria de Jesus spoke out and paved the way for future women by writing this book, even though it was widely criticized at the time. A must read.

I was asked to read this book for a class. I really did not think that I would enjoy it at all. I was wrong, once I picked up this book I could not put it down. It tells of the amazing strugles of this poor girl growing up in Brazil. I was shocked and amazed to find out about the racism that occured during these times even between families. It was also moving to read this book and see the world through the eyes of a child. Just to think that a child could have the thoughts that Bitita did was moving. I highly recommend this book.