Rudolfo Anaya Has the Reputation

Rudolfo Anaya has the reputation of being the literary mastermind behind the recent emergence of Chicano literature and mestizo historical narratives. In "Zia Summer" he uses the backdrop of a crime thriller to provide a magical journey through New Mexican culture and the native population that abounds there. The focus of this book is less on the plot and the traditional devices of crime thriller, but more a literary prose on the beauty of both the New Mexico landscape and its rich heritage.

The story takes place in contemporary Albuquerque, New Mexico with the central character of the book, Sonny Baca. The two strengths of this book's narrative is the character development of Sonny as he progresses throughout the novel, and the cultural context and New Mexican landscape in which he operates. The actual plot of the novel is very thin, Sonny's cousin, Gloria, is murdered ritualistically and Sonny must traverse both the New Mexico Landscape as well as his historical ancestors to solve the murder. The actual focus of the book is on the historical context and the cultural narratives of Sonny's past.

The character of Sonny Baca is very intriguing. He is described as a washout of sorts, operating as a private detective for fraud and divorce cases without any real direction in life. Although he is painted as the protagonist in this novel, the author neither tries to glorify him nor shy away from his shortcomings. Sonny is haunted by his past, the book opens with, "Sonny awakened to the sound of a chain saw and felt it slicing through his leg. He kicked out wildly as the searing chain ripped through flesh and bone. A cry of pain tore from his throat, and as he jumped back to escape his tormentor, the nightmare faded. 'Chin-gaaa-o,' he groaned, reaching down to massage his numb leg Chapter 1, Anaya). The depiction of Sonny is strange to say the least; he was an Albuquerque teacher, before turning down the course of private detective. His past is clouded in mystery, but the author ensures that the reader understands he is deeply burdened and connected with his cultural heritage. The most important thematic characteristic of Sonny is his self-doubt. He is born into a very culturally rich family; emblematic of this is his Colt.45 pistols, which once belonged to his great grandfather Elfego Baca one of the heroes of New Mexico. It was Elfego who rid New Mexico of its desperadoes during the state's infancy, and Sonny has always felt it necessary to live up to his ancestral past. His self-doubt manifests itself in an inability to escape his ancestral burden; he feels that his ancestry makes demands of him that he cannot meet. Therefore, the quest to find Gloria's killers becomes a "spiritual mission" for him to redeem himself in front of his ancestors. The strength of his character building lies in Anaya's ability to blend the duality of the present, with Sonny's cultural past, thus creating many narratives within the primary narrative.

The secondary character within this novel is Gloria. The mysterious cousin of Sonny's who was ritualistically murdered after her blood is drained and used as a sacrifice to the gods. Anaya carefully crafts the character of Gloria as a foil to Sonny. She unlike Sonny is not burdened by her culture, and instead strove to achieve the best life for herself within contemporary society. In many ways, Gloria lacks all of the weaknesses that Sonny has, and therefore effectively serves as a foil for Sonny's character. This allows Sonny's quest for vengeance to become legitimized on both a personal and emotional level, because he must make up for the shortcomings in himself as homage to Gloria.