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Today’s blog will be a continuation of An Overview; my previous post where I wrote a quick overview of the novel How the García Girls Lost Their Accent by Julia Alvarez. In this second part of my novel analysis I will be focusing on specific characters (with emphasis on their gender and development), culture, and comparison between a society and an individual. Hope you all enjoy and get inspired to read this beautiful novel!
Personajes
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Yolanda is the protagonist of the novel, when she is first introduced in the book, the audience sees her as the woman that she became not as the woman that she was. Due to Alvarez’s unique writing style, instead of seeing the plot line develop we see it unfold. Thus the novel doesn’t start at the start of the character’s journey but rather it starts at the end. By doing this, we aren’t able to see how Yolanda has developed throughout novel until the reader reaches the end of the book. At the beginning of the story we see a proud Latina whom takes pride in her roots and culture, as the story unfolds we are introduced to another side of Yolanda one for which she hides from her Hispanic roots and desires only to be American. Alvarez’s writing style allows the reader to understand the conflicts and life changing events that given her a newly found appreciation for her Latina culture and stop hiding behind the American culture she so desperately wanted to conform too.
The Hispanic culture is one for which still remains underdeveloped in comparison to those such as the American culture. Feminism is a term rarely discussed or even heard about within Hispanic households or South American countries. On the contrary, in developed societies women’s rights have been clearly established and women play a larger role than the stereotypical “mom” or “maid”. In the novel, there is a clear display of the differentiation of lifestyle that the characters have based on their gender. Throughout the book there are clear references to the superiority that men have over women and the lack of power that women have in the family, society, and country. Men are shown to mistreat the women, while the women do nothing but satisfy and serve the men. For example, the relationship that the García sisters have with their father is based upon them giving they total respect and attention to their father regardless of the circumstances. Women are the ones that stay home waiting for the men, they are there to serve men and to have their children. Throughout the book there are several remarks on how each couple is expected to have children especially a boy. Regardless of the women’s devotion to men, society still seems them as objects and they give little respect to them as well; “Once a male cousin bragged that this pre-dinner hour should be called Whore Hour. He was not reluctant to explain to Yolanda that this is the hour during which a Dominican male of a certain class stops in on his mistress on his way home to his wife” (Álvarez 7). Since the novel is (in some chapters) written from the perspective of a women, it lets the reader understand how the role that the women play is to please the men, while the men treat their with inferiority and are only after pleasing themselves.
When Yolanda migrates to the U.S the treatment and ideals that women receive becomes one of the cultural aspects that she is most influenced by. She develops a new perspective on herself, women, and the dynamic between male and female as she experiences a new way in which women are treated. After experiencing these two ways in which women are treated Yolanda represents feminism in the novel, “But the third daughter who had become a feminist in the wake of her divorce, said she considered such locker-room entertainments offensive” (Álvarez 33). The reader sees the events that Yolanda lives through that make her take the decision of becoming a feminist, a person which believes that gender should be treated equally. Living in two different societies and going through relationships helped her understand that her gender does not determine the way that she is treated nor does it determine what she can do with her life.
Cultura
The novel revolves around the impacts that culture plays on individuals and families. As previously mentioned, it follows the life of the Garcías migrating from the Dominican Republic to the U.S and some characters moving back to their home country. We first see the main character, Yo
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landa make an abrupt transition from having pride in her country to completely neglecting it. When she first moves to the U.S the culture shock was one for which she was not ready to experience but after she gets accustomed to the lifestyle, social norms, and language Yolanda refuses to acknowledge her Latina roots. The first time that she is back in the Dominican Republic is when her negation of her country is truly seen. In this visit she is able to understand her family but speak very poor Spanish with them. In contrast from the beginning of the novel when she had a cultural and language barrier with Americans, now she has that wit
h her own country.
Culture, whether that be the American or the Dominican, always defined Yolanda. Her family dynamics changed as she moved to the U.S, she became more independent and realized that she does not have to be reliant on her parents to succeed. Her relationships also changed” I’d meet someone, conversations would flow, they’d come calling, but pretty soon afterward, just as my heart was beginning to throw out little tendrils of attachment, they’d leave. I couldn’t
keep them interested. Why I couldn’t keep them interested was pretty simple: I wouldn’t sleep with them.” (Álvarez 87). Yolanda was raised to think, act, and be a Latina women, regardless of how hard she tried to adapt to the American culture, her Dominican roots defined her. Towards the end of her life (beginning of the novel) it becomes clear that she chooses to adapt to both cultures by picking the best parts of each one. For example, she chooses to maintain the relationship style of a Dominican women, where they establish respect and sex only comes after serious commitment but she always chooses the feminist view that the American society holds.
I am Colombian. I was born in Miami but short after I moved to Colombia and had the opportunity to live there for eight years. The time for which a person absorbs culture and learns a language was the time that I lived in Colombia. As I was reading this novel, it was surprising how many connections I could make with the protagonist. American culture is idolized in Colombia and other hispanic countries. The U.S is seen as a country that grants freedom, safety, and opportunity to anyone that is willing to work for it. I constantly found myself wanting nothing more but to move back to the U.S but once my family took the decision of coming back, I was tortured with the nostalgia of my country. A new society and new culture was something incredibly hard to adapt too. Fortunately, I had already learned English and the language barrier was one for which I never had difficulties with but the cultural aspects where very difficult. It is something that came with time, learning new culture. I now can manage two languages and two cultures. It was hard not to forget my Colombian roots but I have always been proud of my roots and my parents have never let me forget them.
Individuales y Sociedad
How the Garcia Sisters Lost Their Accents is written from the perspectives of marginalized characters. All of the sisters represent characters that are dominated by a culture and thrive to fit in to America. By reading the story through their perspective I can understand how they want to conform to a new society not because they don’t like their original one but because the feeling of being an outsider is very difficult to live with. Especially with Carla, it is clear how being an outsider causes her to be bullied in school. Feeling that they do not belong limits them from pursuing goals and from thriving within the American society. Yolanda and her sister’s relationship with the American society begins very dysfunctional. The sisters nor Americans understand each other, due to their language barrier and differences in customs the initial relationship is misunderstood from both sides. Eventually, the Garcia sisters learn to adapt to American society and the relationship becomes stronger as their relations with the Dominican culture weakens.
Trying to conform as quickly as possible in order to end the feeling of being an outsider, Yolanda strives to learn the new culture as quickly as possible. In order to this, she begins hating her Dominican roots and praising the American customs. As Yolanda gets closer to the American culture, she develops a new identity one for which revolves around adapting ideals of feminism but also forgetting the family and relationship dynamics that she grew up with. The feeling that she never truly belongs in either society forces her to pick the best aspects of both the Latino and American cultures and apply them both to her life. She gains two new perspectives on how to view life events and how to judge herself and others. Her identity is shown to be a well balanced combination of American ideals and Dominican customs.
Be Effortless 