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Before We Were Free Literary Analysis

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“All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil.” - Anon. You may not realize this, however this quote is surprisingly true. An example of this can be found in the novel, “Before We Were Free” by Julia Alvarez, where the protagonist Anita, is living with her family in the Dominican Republic lead by El Jefe, the antagonist. Throughout the novel, several conflicts occur between Anita (and her family) and El Jefe. An example of one of the conflicts presented is man vs society. To introduce, the main character Anita is living in a compound with her family in the Dominican Republic. The country is ran by the dictator, El Jefe, or as some others refer to him as “Mr. Smith.” Most families disagree with his policies …show more content…

Over there, there is a group of rebels trying to overthrow the government. Innocent bystanders are being affected. Most of them want to avoid the conflicts occurring, so they flee. The motion of running away is similar to what Anita’s family did in Before We Were Free. They traveled to the United States, where they would be safe from the dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Furthermore, there is another similar dictatorship in North Korea in today’s world. The supreme leader of the country is named Kim Jong-un, and he controls everything that occurs. This is in close relation to El Jefe in Before We Were Free because they both have absolute power over the citizens. Just like in the novel, there are many people in the world that disagree with what Kim Jong-un is doing. In both events, if you opposed the leader, you would have to face serious consequences. In conclusion, the novel entitled Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez, presents the reader with various situations where there is a struggle between good and evil. The good is Anita’s family and the bad is El Jefe. The way El Jefe behaves is very similar to the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un and the predicament in Syria. These traits clearly support the quote made by Anon saying, “All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and

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