Judith Ortiz Cofer is a Puerto Rican whose writing often examines the conflict and the beauty of cultures mixing together, as people immigrate to America. Though she exhibits a strong connection to her Latin heritage, she often seems to also resent that part of her life. There are many standards and expectations in the Puerto Rican society which Cofer writes to subvert, viewing them negatively. As a Puerto Rican woman, Cofer often disagrees with the limits and expectations placed on a woman in Puerto Rican society, and this attitude is the subject of much of her work. In Claims, the speaker describes Grandmother. Cofer uses this poem to illustrate a family and describe an individual, as well as telling the reader about parts of Puerto Rican culture, such as its views on womens roles and on sexuality.On the surface, Claims is a poem about a Grandmothers life. She has grown old, like a used, weathered Bedouin tent. After spending her life as a wife and mother, Grandmother finally has a chance to reclaim her own life. Grandmother seems to have been submissive, accepting her role throughout life to sacrifice herself for others, while all along wishing for her freedom. She considered each of her children a burden, but an acceptable one. She had made a pact / with man and nature to live as a wife and bear and raise children. She kept her pact, waiting for the day when her children would leave the nest and her husband would pass away. In Claims, Grandmothers time has come and her real self, the person she wants to be, is returning, like the sea rising with the tide. One can imagine the sand when the tide is out, as it is claimed by people and animals. The sea seems to be giving up part of itself, but it will return to claim the sand again. In the same way, the Grandmother has given her life, allowed other people to occupy days that were hers, but is reclaiming her sand in the poem.Examining Claims on another lever, one finds m...
