Citizen: An American Lyric

by

Claudia Rankine

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Citizen: An American Lyric makes teaching easy.

Mariana Alves Character Analysis

Mariana Alves is a tennis umpire who made a number of unfair calls against Serena Williams in the 2004 U.S. Open. Exasperated by this injustice, Williams responded to one of these bad calls by waving her finger and saying, “No, no, no,” though she was able to contain her anger.

Mariana Alves Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric

The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below are all either spoken by Mariana Alves or refer to Mariana Alves. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bigotry, Implicit Bias, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

And though you felt outrage for Serena after that 2004 US Open, as the years go by, she seems to put Alves, and a lengthening list of other curious calls and oversights, against both her and her sister, behind her as they happen.

Yes, and the body has memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness—all the unintimidated, unblinking, and unflappable resilience does not erase the moments lived through, even as we are eternally stupid or everlastingly optimistic, so ready to be inside, among, a part of the games.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Mariana Alves, Venus Williams
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Citizen: An American Lyric LitChart as a printable PDF.
Citizen: An American Lyric PDF

Mariana Alves Quotes in Citizen: An American Lyric

The Citizen: An American Lyric quotes below are all either spoken by Mariana Alves or refer to Mariana Alves. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Bigotry, Implicit Bias, and Legitimacy Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

And though you felt outrage for Serena after that 2004 US Open, as the years go by, she seems to put Alves, and a lengthening list of other curious calls and oversights, against both her and her sister, behind her as they happen.

Yes, and the body has memory. The physical carriage hauls more than its weight. The body is the threshold across which each objectionable call passes into consciousness—all the unintimidated, unblinking, and unflappable resilience does not erase the moments lived through, even as we are eternally stupid or everlastingly optimistic, so ready to be inside, among, a part of the games.

Related Characters: The Protagonist (“You”), Serena Williams, Mariana Alves, Venus Williams
Page Number: 28
Explanation and Analysis: