how the Garcia girls lost ther accents: final

Many men of the past and today frequently have seen themselves superior to women, though this thought is not as frequently used as it once was. men can be blinded to abuse their “power” and behave as if women have no rights over them, making it easier for many to mistreat women. But the mistreatment is mostly based on the society they live in. women today have far more rights and respect than they have in the past like the right to vote and equal payment for the employed. But true equality has not been reached yet. The reason for Julia Alvarez to write the book “How the Garcia Girls lost their Accents” was to prove that the issue of sexism still exists in her society and the world is not the safest place to live in during the late 1900s.

While living in the Dominican republic (their home country) and the united states, the parents, Carlos and Laura, raised four girls named Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia. But as you can notice, they had no sons. Whenever someone asked if Carlos and Laura had any children, they would respond “one, two, three, four girls” (page 40) and to that response the person would additionally ask “No sons?”  and the mother would say “No” apologetically”(page 41). Note that this question was not asked only once but frequently throughout the book. The “apologically” part in their response makes it sound as if the mother was ashamed to have only daughters and no sons.

As the girls aged from teenagers into young adults in the American society, they were pure pressured into having sex which they manage to resist. During her early years of college, Yolanda developed a relationship with a classmate who went by Rudolf Brodermann Elmenhurst but Rudy for short. The relationship had a decent start with one respecting each other. But as days went by, things did not become as Yolanda expected to be. Rudy had a kind attitude for Yolanda, but eventually it turned out that was not the true reason for rudy’s kindness. He ask her “ We have been going out for a month… when’s it going to be right?” and as five years went by he came back and told her “I’ve waited 5 years… lets just fuck [sex]” (page103). After Yolanda refused to have sex with him, Rudy simply just left. This indicates that he was just using her. He did not truly have a relationship with her but rather used her. Though he probably knew what he was doing was wrong, he being a man in his society might of blinded him into thinking he had the right to do so.

Some men abused their power as husbands. Fifi (Sofia) married someone who did not give her that much respect. Her sister encouraged Fifi to leave him due to his poor character and respect towards Fifi like when he slammed what Fifi was reading out of her hands. Because of his rude temper and disrespect, the girls made fun of him by make a loud humming noise whenever he was mentioned.

Another possible purpose of Alvarez writing this book was to also point out that the world’s society is not a very safe one. Their homeland was becoming dangerous explaining their escape to the united states. In the Dominican republic the Garcia girls and their parents were getting into deep trouble. Their father was becoming one of their wanted targets. This spiked some men to frequently patrol their home, searching  for Carlos while he holds his breath in the humid closet. No one would like to live this lifestyle. The dangers of the Dominican republic drove the Garcia family out and arrive to the united states which promised them some more safety and a better life.

 Though the united states was not as life threatening as the Dominican republic, it still was not the safest place to be. There were several troubling men strolling around their society making it not  the safest place to be in. Carla witnessed one of theses troubled men and became extremely terrified. She was not able to tell what she witnessed because of the fear she dealed with. Yolanda was frightened in the American society so she frequently would take birth control pills. In the united states during their time (and even today) it was not that difficult to find certain drugs. Sandra got exposure to marijuana and gave some to the rest of her sisters. Luckily their mother found out and drugs were that much of a big issue for the girls. Moving to the United states also was not that easy for the rest of the family. Not only did they need to learn a new language but also adapt to a new society. Carlos changed when they moved to the united states due to the difficulties they had to face. In the Dominican republic Carlos played small games with the girls and had somewhat a happy character. However due to the departure of their home country Carlos became tempered. No longer did he play with Yolanda as he once did, but rather was provoked enough to insult Yolanda’s piece of poetry stating that is not true and rude and he a rip it into peaces, thought later on he confessed that what he did was wrong.

Safety and sexism are two major issues that Julia Alvarez was trying to address in her book. She described how life and the society was like in both the Dominican republic and the united states. She pointed out that both societies had several weaknesses that made large negative impacts on the lives of many, particularly the lives of women. Alvarez stated the dangers many were in risk of facing like the agents just taking a family member (or the entire family) away to prison which the Garcia family was in risk of facing. Though these issues are not as dreadful as they once were, they still impact the lives of many