Garcia Girls Part 3 Blog Post

In “How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents” by Julia Alvarez is a story of four sisters, who experience a traumatizing event that forces them to move from the Dominican Republic to America. However, in the third part of the story, where all the sisters have reverted back to their child state, the nooks and crannies of the actual occurrence is revealed. Each and every part of the event has a symbolic meaning that “foreshadows” the future (which was mentioned earlier in the book).

For example, in the beginning of the part, the innocence of the girls are shown. They have yet been limited in their capabilities, by the laws of the Dominican Republic which disallowed women to do many things. As a result, the girls were never exposed to the truths and sin of the world. In conclusion, the human right removing laws of the Dominican Republic actually preserved the girls innocence.

However, as fate brings them to the Americas, the freedom that America provides overwhelms the girls, and they lose their self control. One becomes the typical teenage mother, while another falls under the classic story of the bulimic girl. The rights that American provides for the girls cannot be handled properly, and they each begin to drift away from their parents. As a result, the girls’ lives begin to fall apart from their ongoing bad choices.

In sum, the girls started off as model children. But when they move to America, their previously limited lives are now able to roam free, and they cannot handle it, and they are torn apart and ruined. The accents they lose are not part of their voice, but their innocence. Through this, it can even be stated that our experiences, in this case the freedom, benefit our knowledge but hash away at our innocence, until we reach a standpoint of maturity. As our lives progress - our knowledge increasing and experiences expanding - we lose our innocence; our carefree ability to just let things pass without making them into a huge deal.

The One

The other day, I was discussing relationships with one of my friends. He had recently started dating, but was unsure if his +1 was “the one” for him. They were obviously an odd couple, evident racially and by the fact that they barely knew each other. However, they both seem to really want to make their relationship work, ignoring jeers and insults on the side. But does this make them soulmates, or are they just going through their honeymoon period? Is she really “the one” for him? And how many girls out there are “the one”(s) for any guy?

Are two people really destined to meet? A baby is born every six seconds, and yet everything that happens in their life could have been decided at that very moment. But, hypothetically, their could be two males that are just the same in every way, and they have a soulmate that are also the same as each other. Would it be possible for their destinies to interchange if the four met?

As confusing as my previous statement was/ is, I’m awestruck by the possibilities. If our fate is determined at birth, then we never actually make any of our decisions. Furthermore, we never choose our soulmates, which is just like in medieval times, where the parents would choose the bride/ groom rather than the two themselves.

But if our fate isn’t chosen at birth, then soulmates would never exist. Our fate would not progress until we further made a decision. For example, we would not be destined to marry someone until the day of the wedding. Then “the one” will only be an ideal soulmate, and we date whoever is closest to our personal standards.

So in the end, there are two possibilities. One, we have soulmates, and our fate is determined from the very moment we are concieved, at the cost of your choices being only an illusion provided by destiny. As a result, we would not have matured martially from midieval times. On the other end of the table, destiny doesn’t exist, and people may never find the perfect person for them. There’s just no positive way to think of it...

Garcia Girls Part 2 Blog Post

In “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents”, Julie Alvarez writes of the difficulties four sisters face when they move into the United States. The difference between the Dominican Republic and the United States is evidently indifferent. While in the Dominican Republic, the girls are treated unequal sexually and even just in general, the United States offers a variety of equal rights and government. In comparison to the Dominican Republic, the United States is much safer for the girls.

During their time at the Dominican Republic, especially as shown in the very first vignette, women have much more limited rights than men. In it, Yolanda, one of the sisters, returns to the Dominican Republic. When she arrives, she finds that she cannot even take a bus without a man by her side. She had become so used to American society, that she is culture shocked when she realizes her past limitations.

While she is in America, she experiences an equal lifestyle. She is exposed to the freedom of teenage life, whether this harms or helps her development as a person. For example, in America, Yolanda is able to write about whatever she wants, while her possibilities are limited while she is in the Dominican Republic. Even the mother, would rather live in the United States, where she is free to be something other than a housemaid

Obviously there is a huge difference between the Garcia Girl’s experience in the Dominican Republic than in the United States of America. For one, the Dominican Republic offers much less equality for women and America is built of the logic of equal rights. In addition, the Dominican Republic enforces limited freedom for both men and women alike, due to their political state. As a result, the family that stays in the Dominican Republic have a huge difference in opinion of human right than the ones that go to America. The two nations are evidently very different in both culture and politics.

Part One Analysis

“How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” Julia Alvarez, the author, unravels the story of four Dominican sisters who, although raised the same, turn out very different. The book is divided into three sections, with Part One being the most recent and Part Three being the least. In Part One, the author uses the plus ones of the the sisters to give background information on them. For example, the youngest girl, Sofia was raised the same as her sisters. However, she becomes the most rebellious, and ends up getting pregnant and running away. Meanwhile, Yolanda, the third sister, has always lived by his parents rules. She has always lived by their rules. However, all the sisters share something in common. They all end up spiralling down in their lives as soon as they leave the support of their father and mother.

In the case of the Sandra, the second sister, she began the purge herself as soon as she went to college. Her bulimic state gets her hospitalized to a point of being “unrecognizable”. She goes into a mental breakdown, which her family becomes ashamed of. During the sessions between her father, mother, and her therapist, her father kept much of his opinion to himself, while her mother could only sob and whine about her daughter. The mother always had a story of each girl that she would tell on the respective girls important days. But after this incident, her mother no longer told the story. She only wished to forget the past.

The oldest daughter, Carla, was the only one who has some form of success in her life. However, she is still dependent on her parents. She is the only one who wants to spend time with them. She is the only one who still bothers invite them to her events, compared to Yolanda who kept trying to hide her poetry recitals.

In general, the girls have proven to be very unsuccessful in independent living. dealing with pregnancy, nervous breakdowns, and just wanting to get away from her parents.