Mercedes Benz 220 SL by Rosario Ferre is a short story about self involved parents, Ellie and Ralph, and their son Fernando and his wife Maria. Ralph and Ellie go for a ride in their Mercedes a Sunday morning with a heavy downpour of rain going on. Ralph was going pretty fast, about 90m/h, and hits a man. A woman comes and tends to the man, but they don't get out of their cars. Ralph writes "Contact us if we can be of help" and their address on a note and leaves. The lady goes to their house a few days later and is greeted by Ellie. Ralph was at work. The lady tells her that the man is dead and she had buried him, then she leaves. What Ellie and Ralph don't know is that the dead man is their son Fernando and the woman is his wife.
This story was very shocking and disturbing. At first I didn't understand who was talking or what was going on, but then I got the hang of it. The way it was narrated helped me get into the stories suspense even more. The first time I read it my immediate reaction was that it was very shocking and then I thought it was very sad. Ralph and Ellie are very disturbed parents. They live in their own world; they think that they are superior because they have a Mercedes. We see this in quotes like: "See the passersby in the rain looking at us", "this car is like a fortress, wherever we go it"ll put us in the right, that's what I bought it for", and "in this country power is the only thing that counts". Ellie criticizes young people and how they think life is a bowl of cherries. But she neglects to notice her own faults. Especially the fact that deep down inside, no matter what she tell Ralph she knows that it was their fault and she is in denial. I think that Maria not telling her that the man the had hit was her son because she was punishing them, frankly I cant blame her for wanting them feel pain over missing somebody.
This is a story that I can relate to people in general, no matter the year.
