Being Happy with the Small Things in Life

Being Happy With The Small Things In Life

In "Barbie-Q," Sandra Cisneros chooses a particular point of view in order to communicate the central points of this story. The story is narrated by one of the two young girls who are the main characters. The story begins with the following: "Yours is the one with mean eyes and a ponytail." "Mine is the one with bubble hair." (Cisneros 576) This clearly shows that the narrator is indeed one of the girls. Another part of the story reads, "Every time the same story. Your Barbie is roommates with my Barbie, and my Barbie's boyfriend comes over and your Barbie steals him," (576) This again shows that the narrator is one of the young girls because she uses words like mine and yours. There are also many other instances throughout the story that prove she is the narrator.

The main point of the story, in my opinion, is to be happy with what you have just like the girls were. The story says, "But that's all we can afford, besides one extra outfit a piece." (576) It is clear throughout the story that the girls were not very well off. In one instance, the narrator talks about not having a Ken doll for the Barbies to fight over because they would rather spend their money on a new outfit next Christmas for their Barbies. (576) Another instance shows that the girls knew they were less fortunate than other people, the story states, "We have to make do with your mean-eyed Barbie and my bubble-head Barbie and our one outfit a piece not including the sock dress." (576) The narrator refers to the Barbies as "mean-eyed" and "bubble head" in this sentence, which shows the narrator realized that she did not have the best of things but she was still satisfied.

It is clear that the narrator did not have many possessions but what she had she greatly valued. It states that each girl had a Barbie and they did not have many other outfits except for the one it had come with and the one they had make from a sock. "This and a dress made from an old sock when we cut holes here and here and here, the cuff rolled over for the glamorous, fancy-free, off-the-shoulder look." (576) This shows the narrator's happiness with what she had. Instead of complaining about not having more outfits for the Barbies, she made do with an old sock.

Later in the story, the girls hear of a toy warehouse that had burned down so they decided to go to the flea market on Maxwell Street. Some people tend to think that flea markets are dirty and would not ever buy anything from them. The narrator spoke of the flea market like it was the biggest shopping mall in the world, filled with all kinds of brand new toys. At one point the narrator says, "So what if we didn't get our new Bendable Legs Barbie and Midge and ...................in nice clean boxes and had to buy them on Maxwell Street, all water soaked and sooty. So what if our Barbies smell like smoke when you hold them up to your nose even after you wash and wash and wash them." (577) The narrator knew that the Barbies were not perfect but was happy with the fact that she was even getting them. It did