As we go back in time farther with the second half of this compilation of stories, I feel like one thing sticks out at me. How different do we approach and criticize these stories having gotten to know these main characters starting as adults, and going back into their childhoods. I feel like having gotten to know these girls first as adults, and later as children made a huge difference in the impact the story had on me. I almost feel like we have more compassion for them because in reality, their lives simply got more and more complicated and problem-ridden as they grew older. Their lives as children in the Dominican Republic were quite peaceful and problem-free compared to the second half of their lives, as adults. I really think Julia Alvarez purposely structured the book this way to show the impact of their immigration and the outcome of their assimilation. Like we discussed in class, was the assimilation being portrayed as a positive or a negative theme?
Anyway, my favourite story in second half would have to be "Snow". I know I know, easy for me to say because it was so short and such a crowd pleaser. I really feel like it shows an interesting side to Yolanda's character. I found myself saying "classic Yolanda" when I read it, which proves that she plays an important role as a main character throughout the novel and that Julia Alvarez did a fairly good job of helping us connect with her on a personal level. I feel like she put this story in the novel not only to highlight the inoccence of the young immigrant girl, but also because it shows an important aspect of Yolanda's personality. Later in the novel, it's brought up again when Yolanda at a young age dreams of seeing New York, which her grandmother calls some sort of indoor/outdoor concrete paradise. I think the story is there to show the vast depths of Yolanda's imagination and also the fact that her mind is always racing and her thoughts always full of curiosity and the future.
Overall, I liked the first half of the book better than the second half, although overall I thought the entire book was pretty good. I wouldn't say I thought it was amazing, but I might read it again just because I think I would see things differently, and notice things I didn't notice the first time around. I'm also curious about it's sequal "Yo", I hear it got pretty good reviews.
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3 comments:
I agree with you to in that Snow is also one of my favourite story. I think that even though it’s short, it gives a lot to the reader because it shows that some things can’t be described well and you understand it until you live it. How can you really describe snow or a bomb its hard to do. I think it’s the same with the experience people feel when they come to a new country it is hard to describe what you feel and you can only be understood by those that have gone though the same thing as you. I also like how Alvarez used two opposite things yet it is logical for a little girl to confuse the two.
I definitely agree, Kaan. The reverse chronological order was a very significant stylistic tool that enabled Alvarez to evoke certain assumptions in her readers and subsequently break them. I also felt an immediate compassion for the girls as they are first introduced to us as damaged young women with serious psychological issues. This compassion and pity evoked draws the reader in and incites in us a desire to probe their past for explanation as to why they ended up with such fragmented identities and troubled relationships.
kaan, i think you have a really good point here. we were introduced to these four grown women at the beginning of the book and slowly we come to know them. first they are people. then they are people with a history. then they are people with issues and then finally we come to learn where these issues stem from. each story telling provides us as pseudo-psychologists to decide how the events in their lives as children affected their personalities as grownups. i think that is a really interesting way to look at chronology as a literary tool.
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