Blog Homework #2

"How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents" is a novel that was written by Julia Alvarez. The story is about the lives of four sisters beginning with their adult lives in the United States and Concluding with their childhood life in the Dominican Republic. The family was forced to flee from the Dominican Republic because the father was opposed to a dictatorship rule at the time The author focuses particularly on Yolanda’s character which is portrayed as protagonist. "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" was a very interesting read. I did not fully enjoy reading the book because I could not completely relate to any of the sisters but I found each of sisters stories compelling to read. It is quite clear that the American woman is more independent compared to the Dominican woman. The American woman is free to do whatever she wants to do without having to follow someone’s orders and rules. In Julia Alvarez book, How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, Laura, the mother of the four girls is described as “beginning to spread her wings, taking or learning adult courses in real estate and international economics and business management and dreaming of a bigger-than-family-size for herself.   It is therefore clear that Julia Alvarez has portrayed a great difference between American and Dominican women in terms of their social role in the novel, How Garcia Girls lost their Accents. It is evident that an American woman is more empowered and independent compared to a woman form the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic still lives by the traditional ways that dictated women to be passive, obedient and submissive. Laura and her daughters embrace the American way of life and hence gain the much desired freedom and independence that encourages personal growth.