How the Garia Girls Lost their Accents: An Overview of Section One

In the reading of How The Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, by Julia Alvarez, my first impression is that it is boring, from reading the first few pages. There were plenty of confusion, especially in the first to second chapter. There, I had to force myself to read on. I had to keep in mind that the story is in backwards chronological order. The first vinette displayed a scene of Yolanda's arrival, intertwined with many memories, flashbacks, and emotions. This part was very confusing because nothing was explained and there seemed to be many unspoken dramas lingered in the characters' tone. Also, during this part, the author's tone shows how uncomfortable Yolanda was and I anticipated for an explanation for her awkward incounterments with people, especially when the two men who spoke Spanish were trying to help her find her way.

As the story progressed, some things began to clear up and this made the story much more interesting. In "The Kiss", the Garcia family was presented as an extremely close family with a deep past. The relationship between the daughters and Papi is unique. Papi contained a very baised view of keeping the family name golden; therefore, the daughters must marry men with extraordinary backgrounds, which I think is the basis of the conflict. Sophia and Papi seems to have an awkward relationship, and I wonder why.

Throughout the story, mother tells stories of the three girls; stories that made her proud. They also had a color coded system, which caught a bit of attention in the story. I think the author includes these little things in their life because it represents something that would help us identify the characters' personalities, especially Mother's because she was the one who set the system up. I especially did not understand the part where Sandra was thought to be crazy and is experiencing backwards evolution. Also, I don't get the reason why Yolanda left John. What does she mean that they spoke two different languages in literature?

I think the author wrote this book in chronological order because to help us see the difference in how the Garcia girls changed each time.