Identity as Collection of Stories

What do we tell ourselves? What do we tell others?

The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez by Iliana Rocha is an attempt at closure for those who have lost their lives in anonymity. Those lost are not simply John Doe. Rocha names them family by giving each man her grandfather’s name, Inocencio Rodriguez. The title signals to the repetitive violence that occurs against men of color and her imagery and use of form forces readers to sit with the life and history she weaves them, rather than solely their death. In August Wilson’s, Fences, protagonist Troy Maxson fluctuates his history to fit the story he wants to tell (and his audience).