When she could no longer find beauty in the world, he helped her see it.
Have You Seen Luis Velez by Catherine Ryan Hyde centers around Raymond Jaffe who is half African American and Caucasian. His mother and father got divorced and made a family of their own but Raymond feels like he does not belong anywhere. He has no one who can understand him and that reinforces the idea that he is an outcast. One day he meets Mildred Gutermann who is in her nineties, almost blind, and barely can hear.
Mildred Gutermann is a German Jew who escaped before the Nazis came and got them. She lives with survivor’s guilt but it made her live her life to the fullest. During the days Luis Velez would come and help her do her grocers, walk her to the bank, and take care of her out of kindness. Except, one day Luis disappears and Mildred is left to fend for herself. When Raymond finds her, she is barely surviving on a quarter of a soup can. This situation motivated Raymond to help her with everything she needs to be done, due to this course of action it made Raymond and Mildred closer together.
After hearing about Luis Velez's disappearance, Raymond is determined to see what happened to him. Although the result of finding out where Luis went, it destroyed Mildred, and Raymond only knows that being with her and showing her the beauty of the world will help her. While helping her look at the bright side, Raymond also discovers more about society and how it came to be all because of Mildred's wisdom and advice.
Mildred Gutermann is a German Jew who escaped before the Nazis came and got them. She lives with survivor’s guilt but it made her live her life to the fullest. During the days Luis Velez would come and help her do her grocers, walk her to the bank, and take care of her out of kindness. Except, one day Luis disappears and Mildred is left to fend for herself. When Raymond finds her, she is barely surviving on a quarter of a soup can. This situation motivated Raymond to help her with everything she needs to be done, due to this course of action it made Raymond and Mildred closer together.
After hearing about Luis Velez's disappearance, Raymond is determined to see what happened to him. Although the result of finding out where Luis went, it destroyed Mildred, and Raymond only knows that being with her and showing her the beauty of the world will help her. While helping her look at the bright side, Raymond also discovers more about society and how it came to be all because of Mildred's wisdom and advice.