The short story in which I am writing about is called Exile by Julia Alvarez. The protagonist is the daughter. She doesn't have a name but her desires are clear throughout the story. She wants her life to be back to the way it was before the Dominican dictator Trujillo was in power. And she didn't want to go to the United States of America. The daughter is very clueless because she didn't realize the changes going on around her. But she is also fortunate for having escaped death from Trujillo and arriving in a country that was considered good in it's time.
The antagonist of the story would have to be her father and Trujillo. The father is the one who forces his daughter to leave behind the occupied country. While, Trujillo is the reason that they are leaving. The conflict that the author is facing is fear of the outcome of moving to the United States. Trujillo is denying her happiness, and security in her own home.
The theme of this story is freedom. Being the ability to choose one's fate is something that the characters struggle with throughtout the story. The technique used to show this is internal thinking. Using internal thinking let's the reader tap into the mind of the protagonist and recognize her fears, doubts, and ignorance towards what is happening.
The tone of the author is suspenseful. The author uses flashback to illuminate the tone that she is going for. When she refers to her brother's whispers and the packing of the bags you start to wonder what all the rushing is for. She also uses a cliffhanger at the end so that the reader is unaware of the family's future. Julia Alvarez also uses ethos to inspire pity or sorrow towards a character.
The crises action of the story is when the family finally arrives to America because the protagonist finally escaped death but now she needs to learn how to survive in a new environment. In the end she isn't as clueless as how she started out but she still doesn't have her home and now she needs to create a new one. But she still has her family with her as support. She realizes that things in life aren't easy and that they are about to get harder.
What I enjoyed most about this story was how the author was able to tap into the reader's mind and let you know how the protagonist is feeling. She would also use their vernacular which was helpful in relating to the main character. She also made the reader scared when she wrote "at a curfew-darkened Ciudad Trujillo, speaking in worried whispers to your brothers. Which car to take? Who’d be willing to drive it? What explanation to give should we be discovered . . ." Overall this short story was amazing.
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