Pedro Juan Soto

Pedro Juan Soto was born in Cataño, Puerto Rico, and went to primary and secondary school in Bayamón. In 1946, at the age of eighteen, he moved to New York City and attended Long Island University. He initially studied to become a doctor, but after being influenced by the works of Ernest Hemingway, he decided to study English and American Literature. During an Interview conducted in 2002, shortly before his death, Pedro Juan Soto has openly stated that his writing has been inspired by the writings of Ernest Hemingway, Graham Greene, William Faulkner, and José Luis González. Many of his books, primarily Usmaíl, has shown clear parallels with William Faulkner's Light in August. When asked about how he started to write stories, Soto stated that he learned by conversing with people when he was selling lottery tickets growing up in the La Puntilla slums in Cataño. Soto has stated in 2002 that a novel about this incident is in the works but it has yet to be published. ==Career==

After graduating from Long Island with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he served in the United States Army during the Korean War. After service, Soto attended Columbia University to obtain a Master of Arts degree in creative writing at Columbia University. In 1953, Soto's first career writing attempt came with Los perros anónimos (Anonymous Dogs), a short novel based on Puerto Rican participation in the Korean War. It is also around this time that Soto began to publish his early works, Garabatos (Scribblings) and Los inocentes (The Innocents), for which he won awards. In 1956, these collection of short stories were later reprinted in the work, Spiks. Among Soto's most famous works are Spiks (Monthly Review Press, 1974), which deals with the struggles he and many other Puerto Ricans faced in New York, and Usmaíl, a story set in the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in the early 20th century. Soto was a supporter of the Puerto Rican independence movement, a theme that often shows up in his books. In 1955, Soto moved back to Puerto Rico, where he continued to write novels and short stories, as well as a few dramas, and he later became a professor at the University of Puerto Rico. == Spiks ==

Source: Soto's collection of short stories was reprinted in to a collection called Spiks in 1956 Soto uses The Captive to frame departure by writing about the exile of a 17 year-old girl named Fernanda, from Puerto Rico to New York, after she was caught cheating with her brother-in-law months before her sister's expected baby. Soto uses this story to extrapolate the diasporic phenomenon that was happening in Puerto Rico due to Operation Bootstrap, where many Puerto Ricans were forced to migrate due to the Coercive nature of financial dependence to the United States. Despite the major theme of forceful migration, Soto also explores the issues of patriarchy through the breaking of gender norms by the main character, highlighting the suppression of female sexuality. Los Inocentes (The Innocents) Los Inocentes, "The Innocents", is about the story of a family deciding whether to put their mentally disabled son in a psychiatric institution. The mother argues for him to not be taken to the institute, while the daughter believes that her brother will be better taken care of by the institute. The story goes through the struggles of helping a mentally ill person, especially in places like New York, where nobody knows each other, "even amongst neighbors". Throughout the story, there are signs of mockery and discrimination against mentally ill people, as the mother is insistent that her son remain quiet and not speak to avoid shame. This is contrasted to the island of Puerto Rico, where the mother believes "everyone was close and cared for each other". Garabatos (Scribbles) Garabatos, "Scribbles", is about a poor artist named Rosendo, who is ridiculed by his pregnant wife for being a poor alcohol addict. As a Christmas present for his wife and kids, he decides to paint a canvas of their bathroom-wall, only to be erased and insulted when his wife discovers his work. Although Rosendo is initially negatively portrayed, Rosendo hopes that reminding them of their memories back on the island, the idea for the canvas, would bring joy to his wife and kids. Due to the lack of financial support he provides for his family, his dream and talents of becoming an artist is doubted, even by his own family. According to John Miller. in his article "The Emigrant and New York City: A Consideration of Four Puerto Rican Writers", this short story projects the struggles of a Puerto Rican artist living in New York, which also reflects Soto's life and his career in writing. == Usmaíl ==

Usmaíl, is a novel written in 1959, that depicts the life of Puerto Ricans in the island of Vieques. The story follows the life of a poor afro Latina boy named Usmaíl derived from "US mail", who is abandoned by his American father and Puerto Rican mother. The overarching theme of this novel centers around racial identity and discriminations faced by Puerto Ricans. == Works ==

Books • Los perros anónimos (unpublished), 1950 • Spiks, 1956 • Usmaíl, 1959 • Ardiente suelo, fría estacion, 1961 • El francotirador, 1969 • Temporadora de duendes, 1970 • A solas con Pedro Juan Soto, 1973 • El huésped, las máscaras y otros disfraces, 1974 • Un decir (de la violencia), 1976 • Un oscuro pueblo sonriente, 1982 • Memoria de mi amnesia, 1991 • La sombra lejana, 1999 Other works • Los inocentes, 1954 • Las máscaras, 1958 • La Nueva Vida, 1966 • A Solas con Pedro Juan Soto, 1973 • El huesped, las mascaras y otros disfraces, 1973 • Un decir, 1976 • En busca de J.I. de Diego Pandro, 1990 == See also ==