Question #6

Alvarez takes the reader far beyond just the legend of the sisters.  Throughout the novel she shows how each one of the sisters grows more mature, and it tells the reader about their lives instead of only their part of the revolution.  By telling the sisters' stories, she makes them seem more like the human beings they are rather than portraying them as revolutionary heroes.  During the novel Alvarez takes a lot of time to make sure the reader sees the maturation of each of the sisters in order portray them as normal girls who grew up in an oppressed country with a normal family.  I think that Alvarez's purpose in telling their story is to let the reader know how her native country was rid of a tyrannical regime that kept them oppressed for years because she really appreciates the sisters' stories.  She also seems to want everyone to know the story because it is inspirational to the world and not just in the Dominican Republic.  The morals included in the novel can are universal and can give people hope who are oppressed today.  It is possible that she wants people to know their story because they are deserving of being remembered as who they were instead of just what they did.  The stories are examples of what can be accomplished by regular people with big ambitions.  One of the main morals in my opinion is, "if there's a will there's a way," because from the family they grew up in nobody would think that anybody part of it would be major contributors to the revolution, and especially since they were three girls.  They pretty much defied the odds due to the fact that they were women in an oppressed country, who also didn't all have a full education.  All they had was their determination and selflessness which would eventually lead to their triumph and in the end, death.  Instead of the girls being remembered as legends, Alvarez wants them to be remembered as the people they were and the difficulties they had to overcome.

Timeline

Patria Mirabel was born the oldest of her three other sisters in 1924, and lived with them and their mother and father as a child.  Throughout her childhood Patria was always very religious and motherly towards her three sisters.  At age 14, she went off to school at Inmaculada Concepcion where everyone thought she was going to be a nun and thought it to be a pity because of how pretty they said she was.  When she turned 16, she decided that the life of a nun was not her calling and did not go back to school with her sisters in the upcoming fall.  Patria began working with her father to help with the farm and a man named Pedrito, who worked for her father, caught her eye.  They quickly fell in love with each other and due to Patria's old-fashioned nature they wanted to get married even at that early age.  Her father wanted her to wait until she was 17 to get married but they ended up doing it earlier than previously arranged.  Shortly after their marriage they had two children, a boy and a girl, and later Patria gave birth to a stillborn baby.  After the loss of her child Patria started to lose her faith in religion because she couldn't understand how such a terrible thing could happen to her.  She eventually regained her faith once she and her family went on a pilgrimage to see the Vergincita, and she felt as if she was spoken by God when she touched the statue.  The years passed and at age 35, Patria's two children were almost all grown up and she was about to have another baby.  During her pregnancy she supports her sisters in the cause of trying to start a revolution, but she isn't exactly ready to help out herself.  She would provide them with a safe place to meet but did not get involved in any political matters.  In the same year Patria decided to go on a church retreat up in the mountains and thought the fresh air would be good for the baby in her womb.  While she was there the house they were in was bombarded by gunshots, smoke, and screaming, and she witnessed a group of young men get gunned down in front of her.  This was the moment she finally wanted to be part of whatever her sisters were getting themselves into because she finally was able to see that what their country needed was freedom.

A Teenage Girl's Guide to Surviving Sex Slavery

This story was one of the more powerful ones in the book.  It illustrates how sex slavery is very real and makes the reader really think about the harsh realities of sex slavery.  The girl narrator in the story describes very vividly some events that could potentially happen to anybody around the world.  For example she describes how she first became a sex slave, and how she watched her friends get taken to never be seen again.  She says, "My best friends were all screaming and crying."  This is the last image of her friends that she would ever see again, which really captures the essence of what is going on.  The story is supposed to be a guide to teenage girls all over the world who are or will be sex slaves.  She tells the reader how to act to their captor, and how you should never look them in the eyes or call them by their name.  She has a bunch of rules on how to act and what to do if you find yourself in that sort of situation, but basically the gist of the guide is just to never let the man be satisfied.  The last rule she gives is, "No one can take anything from you if you do not give it to them."  This is the overall summary of all the other rules.  This means to never give the captor any satisfaction as long as you can help it.  It means if you never let down your guard, never feel bad for him, and never look at him or call him his name, then the man can take nothing from you.  The girl also promotes trying to escape whenever the opportunity is presented, and she says it is worth trying even if there is a risk of dying.  I believe this story is meant to give people hope if they ever become a sex slave, and it is also about the awareness of sex slavery.  All of the rules include some sort of detail that captures some sort of aspect of sex slavery and causes the reader to feel sympathy for the girls.  This raises the awareness of the issue and could potentially reduce the amount of girls sold as slaves every year.

Dear Rihanna

I found the letter to Rihanna written by some teenage girl had a lot to say about many girls now days.  The girl talks about how she was practically in love with Rihanna and how she would do things like changer her hair style to match hers, or how she and the rest of the world was jealous of her.  In her mind Rihanna was the perfect human being who represented everything she couldn't be.  The fact that the girl really felt bad for Chris Brown and made him seem like the victim shows a lot about how she sees situations such as violence against women.  Throughout the letter the girl says multiple times, "He was so sad," in reference to Chris Brown.  This is an example of how the girl would try and make excuses and make it seem as if the man was the victim.  She would argue how she can see it in his eyes that he loves Rihanna and how the apology from him was very heartfelt.  This same feeling is probably shared with many girls around the world when they experience physical abuse by their partner.  They feel bad for the man after they are hit, because the man feels bad after he hits them.  Just because the man feels bad does not take back the fact that he hurt the woman is the message I believe Eve is trying to get across.  Also, the girl in the letter tells Rihanna how it was kind of her fault because she threw the keys to his car.  She says, "I don't know about you, but I'm not perfect.  I'm naggy and I complain, well at least that's what Brad tells me."  By saying this she is siding with her boyfriend who hits her, and making herself at fault.  She believes that she is the one causing her boyfriend to hit her because she annoys him and makes him mad.  There are many girls who are in denial of having an abusive relationship when in reality they have a serious problem.  I believe Eve wrote this to show how some girls need to realize the fact that they are being abused, and to give examples of someone who is in denial.