“Bananas” by Lorna Dee Cervantes

Abstract

Lorna Dee Cervantes is one of the major voices in Chicana literature. She uses her poetry to travel across time and space in order to examine the consequences of oppression throughout history. In her poem “Bananas”, Cervantes uses bananas, a yellow fruit found in tropical countries, to depict and connect the destructive forces that global capitalism and consumerism pose in the lives and communities all over the world. Her poetry exhibits the horrors this economy has on the working class, and by referencing historical socio-economic events, the relevance conservation has on all parts of our lives. While the piece mainly centers on the devastating impact capitalism and consumerism have on low-income communities, it also leaves us with a glimpse of hope, a means to fight back.