This is what I used for the essay, which is 476 words instead of 200.
Often, readers have to make inferences to dig deeper, below the surface meaning of the words, to understand what the author is saying about Granny. This is what Granny's grandson says:
"She was crazy," Manual insisted, "because she only charged them for the cost of the food she cooked, and she didn't earn a penny for all that work."
But is Granny really crazy? Or is there more to her that the author isn't directly revealing? Is there information about Granny beneath the author's words? Alegria gives almost no direct clues about Granny's character motivation during the story. But by the end of the story, everything is clear and we realize the role Granny really played in the guerilla attack.
"'Hello, Mama Tancho,' the camp commander called out. Not knowing she was my grandmother, he told me. 'This is the old lady who gave us the plans for the attack on the Golden Bridge.'
Granny has been in league with the rebels from the beginning. That's why she was so willing to cook for the government soldiers and earn nothing. Being around the government troops and being trusted by them, she was able to steal the defense plans for the bridge. Finally, the author reveals one more "secret" about Granny. What is she selling from her canoe?
"'Fragmentation grenades, G-3 cartridges, 81 millimeter mortar rounds. Who'll buy from me?'"
What's Granny's character motivation? She's helping the guerillas fight against the government.
Look at the details he uses in this passage:
"A few days later a market lady warned Granny that the Guards were looking for the woman who cooked for the troops. So the dear old lady bought a packet of henna, a tube of lipstick, and went back to her ranch."
Describing Granny as "the dear old lady," creates an informal, lighthearted tone. This tone become humorous when the Guards arrive at Granny's ranch to question her.
"'And who are you?' the Guards asked her.
"Granny drew herself up. ‘I'm the respectable owner of a house of pleasure in Suchitoto,' she replied, ‘but with all these subversives shooting up the Guard barracks every other day, I ran out of clients and had to retire. That's the war for you,' she sighed."
Granny is playing a part to convince the Guards that she had nothing to do with the "subversives shooting up the Guard barracks." She uses humor to outwit her enemies by pretending to be the "respectable owner" of a brothel. Granny and the guerillas are living in a violent, dangerous time as they fight for their country's freedom. The author again uses humor to remind us of this in the last lines of the story. "Chanting in her street seller's voice," Granny calls out the different kinds of ammunition she had hidden in her baskets. This is the punch line of the story.
