Charissa Profile

Davis Bradley

Prof. Cryer

ENGL. 122

9 September 2018

Ariel and El Dia de Los Muertos

El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead in English, is a holiday celebrated mainly in Central and South America, but is still celebrated throughout other parts of the world. The holiday isn’t celebrated much around Kansas, but still Ariel Bowman was able to find out about it and discover an awesome holiday with all kinds of fun and interesting traditions behind it.

            When Ariel was younger she didn’t know much about this holiday. She knew about the holiday but didn’t celebrate it and didn’t know about the lore behind it. It wasn’t until seventh grade that she was able to find out more about it and begin her interest in El Dia de los Muertos. Her Spanish teacher, Ms. Gruen, announced that they would have a party in class for the holiday. When she arrived on the day of the party she could tell that there was something unique about this holiday. She looked at the walls and saw the skull masks and skeleton posters in the room and that sparked her initial interest. After the party her interest grew and she began to enjoy the holiday more after realizing what it meant. She makes note that, “it’s literally the complete opposite of Halloween.” She emphasized that the two, look similar on paper but are two different holidays in the real world. I did some more research on that and found out that the two holidays do share some common ground. Halloween and Dia de los Muertos celebrate similarly, as they both have parties and festivals to enjoy the holiday, but the principal behind those celebrations are where the differences begin.

            Dia de los Muertos shares its celebration purposes, but is different because it has the spirits of deceased family and friends come down from their resting place to celebrate with the living. The living bring various items and things that brought the deceased person joy when they were alive to guide their spirit to their family to help them accept death and enjoy their life after life. One point that Ariel made clear to me during my interview with her was that, “[it’s] not a funeral.” She wants to help people understand that the holiday is about happiness and remembering the best memories you have with your deceased loved ones. Don’t try and remember their lives, treat it as if you’re making new ones with them. I then moved on and asked her how the holiday makes her feel and she answered how she feels sad at first since it’s about those lost, but ultimately feels happy because you feel like you’ve been able to be with your lost friends and family again and that you’ve been able to get that last chance that everyone wishes they had before a loved one passed away.

            Obviously, Ariel isn’t in seventh grade anymore so she doesn’t celebrate it in class anymore. She doesn’t celebrate it in her life with her family but does try and make the holiday more well known in our area. I asked if it was celebrated with the same values here as it would be in Mexico or another Central American country. I knew that in Mexico; where it originated, the holiday was serious and is considered a major holiday, where as in the U.S. it’s not exactly replacing Halloween, so her response saying that she doesn’t see it that much in public doesn’t surprise me. I assumed that it would be done more in the classroom setting like her situation and how she learned it where it’s mainly taught to people instead of sought out by people to find out about it.