L.A.’s Traffic Causes Trouble

Whether you're stuck on the 405 freeway during rush hour, on the 15 freeway heading back from a long-weekend vacation, or driving through the busy streets of Hollywood, traffic on the highways and streets of Los Angeles can often be a hassle. In Dagoberto Gilb's short story Love in L.A., first published in 1986, the troubles of traffic are experienced first hand by our main character Jake. Jake is a common fellow with a steady occupation who is merely trying to make his way to work through the busy streets of Hollywood. As he is working his way through the piled traffic, not paying complete attention to the road in front of him, Jake crashes into the back of a Toyota. In the midst of exchanging information with the driver of the Toyota, Jake finds himself attracted to the female driver, whose name is Mariana. Jake attempts several times to ask her out for some coffee or breakfast; however his persistent attempts were not successful. The two drivers continue to exchange insurance information, however Jake not having any valid insurance gives false information to Mariana, and the two of them go their separate ways. In this short story, the author demonstrates the effect of gender roles, Marxist criticism, and new criticism in his writing.

Written in third person limited, this short story is a vivid portrayal of gender roles. Looking in the perspective of a gender critic, one might say that the character of Jake is very persistent. At first, Jake asks Mariana if she would like to go have breakfast and talk it over. After Mariana turns down his offer, Jake attempts to take her out again and says, "Some coffee then?"(629). However, his second attempt is yet again rejected. Then, Jake thinks to himself that she might be married and says to her, "You're not married are you? Not that that would matter that much to me. I'm an open-minded kinda guy." (629). Still very eager to take her out, Jake is unsuccessful to change the mind of Mariana. However, through this dialogue, the author demonstrates persistence in the character of Jake. Another note a gender critic would pick up on is Jake's falsified insurance information. Not wanting to look powerless in comparison to Mariana, Jake lies about having insurance coverage in order to avoid looking foolish. The contrast between the male and female characters of the story is the framework to gender criticism.

The Marxist critics carefully analyze the difference in class and social status. The character of Jake seems to be a male from the lower social class because he lacks financial stability. Jake fails to provide legitimate insurance information because he cannot afford car insurance. Not only is he not able to afford his insurance, but Jake also cannot afford to buy a new car. Before colliding into Mariana's Toyota, Jake daydreams about what it would be like to have a luxurious car. "He needed an FM radio in something better than this '58 Buick he drove. It would have crushed velvet interior with electric controls for the LA summer, a nice warm heater and defroster for the winter drives to the beach, a cruise control for those longer trips," (628) Numerous times in the story the financial status of Jake is brought to the reader's attention. As Jake is about to drive away after the accident, he notices Mariana