The Bad Love in L.A.

In the short story, Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilb, the main character, Jake, displays "ugly" love. Jake tells multiple lies to try to get a date with the girl he wrecked into, Mariana. Not only does he lie about his address, phone number, and car insurance information, but he also has the wrong tags on his vehicle. In addition, he tries to infatuate her to get her to not want to take his information down. Mariana was so naive and left the scene thinking her car was going to be taken care of and that she will talk to Jake again one day. Unfortunately, she more than likely will never encounter him again. This ugly love was displayed in a manipulating and misleading way to get what Jake wanted.
   In any traditional love story, one is charmed by the other and eventually a spark flies. However, in this story, Jake tries to charm Mariana in the wrong way. He only wanted to come out on top of the situation. In fact, after the accident, before he even met Mariana, Jake "considered driving past the Toyota" and making a get away (Gilb 468). The only thing that held him back was "the traffic ahead would [have] made it too difficult" (Gilb 468). As soon as Jake saw his car was okay and asked about Mariana's, he stated that he was hoping there was damage "just so it takes a little more time and [they] could talk some"  (Gilb 469). He then continued on to ask her to "give [him] [her] phone number... [so] [he] won't have to lay [his] regular b.s. on [her] to get it later" (Gilb 469). Jake was trying to get her to talk to him in a romantic way rather than dealing with car problems.
   Mariana was too trusting  and took his charm as a complement. Jake was achieving exactly the mischievous activity he set out to do. "Her smile was a good sign and [he] relaxed" a little (Gilb 469). He even decided it was okay to ask her "out to breakfast somewhere and talk it over" (Gilb 469). Talking over the car wreck was not what Jake intended; he was really asking her out on a date to get to know her better. Jake was careless about the wreck and only cared about his love life's future. 
   Making the right decision, Mariana denied his request for breakfast. Her main focus was on taking care of her car even though she had her moments of infatuation. She proceeded to ask for his drivers license information, but Jake said he didn't bring it because he was a "musician" and "left [his] wallet in the pants he was wearing last night" (Gilb 469). He "exaggerated" this information so in actuality Jake  probably did not even have a license. On top of that, Jake tried to purse her from wanting to report this accident to the insurance company because his car was also uninsured. Since she wanted his insurance information and Jake didn't have any to give, he just lied. Lies came natural to Jake, almost like a second nature. 
    Behind every lie Jake told, he was still able to get her number. His charm worked on Mariana and she left blushing telling him to "call [her]" (Gilb 470). Little did she know, this was all an act and Jake was "both proud and sad about his performance" (Gilb 470). He knew exactly what he was doing and was able to use her heart to better his financial outcome. Through the lies, manipulation, and deceit, Jake showed exactly why this romance did not progress. Jakes selfishness took over and so his love for Mariana was left untouched, thus being the ugly side of love.
Delbanco, Nicholas, and Alan Cheuse. "Love in L.A." Literature: Craft and Voice. Boston: McGraw-Hill,  
     2010. 468-70. Print
Category:Ugly Love