Brent has a Ph.D. in American culture, with a specialization in film studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in the history of American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses descriptions of hunger in Rojas's story "The Glass of Milk."

Rojas's short story "The Glass of Milk" concerns a sailor boy, in a port town far from home, without money or a job, his body wracked with hunger, who is nonetheless too proud to admit to his hunger or accept the charity of others. Much of the story focuses on descriptions of the boy's experience of hunger, in terms of his perceptions of the world around him, his physical sensations, his thoughts and feelings, and his interactions with others.

As the story opens, a sailor, leaning on the rail of a ship, holds a package of food which...