Metzger is a Ph.D. specializing in literature and drama at the University of New Mexico, where she is a lecturer in the English department and an adjunct professor in the University Honors Program. In this essay, she discusses how Judith Ortiz Cofer uses the grandfather's spirituality to envelop the teenage protagonist of "Bad Influence" in the heritage and traditions of Puerto Rico.

In her short story "Bad Influence," Judith Ortiz Cofer uses spirituality to help define the family relationship. The young granddaughter is initially unprepared for life in Puerto Rico. She sees herself as a modern, American teenager and her Puerto Rican relatives as antiquated relics of another time and place. Ultimately, it is the grandfather's spirituality that gives direction to Rita's life, first by introducing her to the spirituality of the island, and second by reinforcing a set of morals and expectations by which the...