The antagonist would have to be her aunts. They wouldn't let her drive north into the country side toward the coast to look for guavas because they felt that it was dangerous for a girl in an expensive car to go far away. The theme in this story is family. The ties between Yolanda is very strong. Even though Yolanda wants to go outside and and play around like she does in the States her aunts know that it's not safe to do so in certain areas. Yolanda doesn't understand that her family is only trying to protect her until the end of the story. There is also a theme of gender inequality because Yolanda has less freedom. They see her as defenseless and as a target for men. Lastly there is a theme of class because Yolanda and her family always live in fear of getting robbed when going out to poor towns. The techniques that the author uses to illuminate the story is scene, and dialogue. You can tell the difference in how the 'campisinos" or peasants speak compared to the rich Dominicans. The ending else illuminates how troubling it is for a girl in a rich car to roaming around unsafe areas by killing off the person who tries to help her.
The authors tone throughout the story is elegiac; which means having a mournful quality. Yolanda has traveled to the Dominican Republic in order to search for her cultural and personal identity. Her difficulty relating to her relatives and other Dominicans reflects the emotional complexity of immigration. Having left her home country at a very young age, she has lost much of the language and culture that forms her family background and national heritage. For this reason, she approaches situations differently than the rest of her family, and there is a gap between their cultural perspective and her own. This gap leads to a certain distance between her and the other members of the family. The intimacy she should feel upon being reunited with her aunts and cousins contrasts with the alienation she actually feels. Through the interactions within her family one can see that there is a sad tone in the story because she had high expectations to connect with her family but she still sticks out like a sore thumb.
What I enjoyed most about this story was how it was easy for me to relate to the protagonist. Considering that I am a Dominican American myself, and that my family from Dominican Republic is wealthy I know how hard it is for them to understand where I am coming from. The only difference between the protagonist and I is the language barrier because I am pretty fluent in Spanish. The only way people can tell the difference is if I can't speak slang. Yolanda's return to her extended family is complicated because she does not fit into Dominican culture the way her cousins do. She sticks out physically because she dresses informally and wears her hair long and naturally, whereas her cousins wear designer pantsuits and color their hair. The way I dress is always something people look a weirdly. Because while i where floral things, and knit sweaters they wear stuff that's very fitted and what I would consider ghetto. We also have a dramatically different perspective on class than the rest of my family. Yolanda and I both notice the poor treatment that the maids receive, as well as deferential physical postures that reflect their class subordination. They seem to adopt these humble postures to deflect the aunts' verbal abuse, and Yolanda sympathizes with them rather than her complaining aunts.
My favorite quote is "She has been too frightened to carry out any strategy, but now a road is opening up before her... Then, as if the admission itself loosens her tongue, she begins to speak, English, a few words, of apology at first, then a great flood of explanation..." While stranded, two men approach Yolanda and ask if she needs help. She is frozen with terror until they ask if she is an American. At this point, she begins speaking English, which the men do not understand, and conclude that she is indeed American. This is ironic because the purpose for her trip to the Dominican Republic was to assert her Dominican identity and connect to her cultural and family roots. Yet, she fears interacting with Dominicans outside the safety of the family compound. I can relate because I am more comfortable talking in English even when people ask me questions in Spanish. Even though I speak Spanish to my parents to people like Ms. Brito, or Ms. Holmes I always respond to them in English even though I understand what they are saying.
