geraldo no last name

1. Kelsey Noah
Period 8
English 12
“Geraldo No Last Name”
“Geraldo No Last Name” is a vignette written by Sandra Cisneros in her book, The
House on Mango Street. The vignette is about Geraldo, who is killed in a hit and run
accident and no one knows his last name. In “Geraldo No Last Name”, Cisneros uses
repetition, structure, and tone to show the themes of discrimination, and the importance
of names.
The theme of the importance of a name can be seen through the repetition of
“Geraldo” in the first and sixth paragraphs. Repeating his first name creates a greater
impact on the fact that his last name is not known. Only his first name is known, and
“that’s all”. If his last name had been known, may be his family could have been told of
what happened. However, his last name is not known, so his family “never saw the
kitchenettes… the two room flats and sleeping rooms he rented”, and instead just
believed Geraldo “went north... we never heard from him again”.
In this vignette, structure is also used to show the theme of discrimination. One
part of the structure of this vignette is that the person speaking about Geraldo changes
through out the vignette. As the person speaking about Geraldo changes what is said is
used to show the discrimination in society around Geraldo. When the police realize there
is nothing to identify Geraldo with, all they say is “Ain’t it a shame”. The way that they
say it so offhandedly shows that they probably do not really care about Geraldo, and
based on what other people say and do about Geraldo later in the vignette, it can be
inferred that it is because of racial discrimination. The actions of the surgeon described
by Marin, when the person speaking changes again further demonstrates the
discrimination in society. “If the surgeon had only come”, Geraldo might have lived.
However, there is just an “intern working all alone” helping Geraldo because everyone
just viewed him as a “brazer” and a “wetback”. The structure of this vignette clearly
shows the theme of discrimination, even through the way the perspective keeps changing.
Another part of this vignette that clearly shows the theme of this vignette is tone.

2. When Marin is talking about “if only the surgeon would’ve come”, there is an angry tone.
She is upset because she knows that the surgeon did not come because Geraldo was “Just
another wetback”, and did not really care what happened to him. The sad tone of the last
two paragraphs also shows the theme of the importance of a name. “The ones (Geraldo)
left behind… will wonder, shrug, remember. Geraldo- he went north… we never heard
from him again” because no one knew his name, so they could not tell his family. The
mournful tone that is used to show how his family will never know what happened to
him, shows the effects not having a name can have.
The structure, repetition, tone, and themes of this vignette develop the overall
significance of the passage. Everyone’s life is important, and no one’s death should be
overlooked. No one paid attention to Geraldo’s death, but he had a life and family who
never found out. His life was significant to them, even if it was not to everyone else.
Through this, Cisneros shows the value of life, and how the death of someone, no matter
how unimportant it may seem, can have an effect on others.