An Analysis Of Julia Alvarez's A Genetics Of Justice

In Julia Alvarez’s “A Genetics of Justice” three central ideas are used to develop her autobiography. She uses the ideas of trauma, silence, and voice throughout. Trauma is a main idea in the text. For example, it is present in multiple areas of the text. The text states “...the dictatorship that my parents endured most of their lives...under the absolute control of Generalisimo Rafael Leonardo Trujillo.. families...kept their daughters out of the public eye, for Trujillo was known to have an appetite for pretty girls... there was no refusing him.” (para.1-2) These quotes show the horrid dictator of the Dominican Republic. And how the Dominican people, including Alvarez’s mother are developing trauma, caused by their dictator. Trujillo

The text states, “...on my second novel. My mother heard from one of my sisters that I was writing about the dictatorship. The novel would be a fictional retelling of the story of three Mirabal sisters, contemporaries of my mother, whose murder had been reported in… Time magazine… my mother warned, I was not just going to anger family members, but I would be directly responsible for their lives. There were still old cronies of the dictator around who would love an excuse to go after my family, after my father, after her… hardest challenges I had ever had to face as a writer.”(para.28) “… could I really put my work above the lives of human beings?... if I shut up, wouldn't I… be… continuing… censorship… my mother… sobbing…’I don't care what happens to us! I’m so proud of you for writing this book.’”(para. 28-30) These quotes show that Alvarez had a voice. She was gifted to be a talented writer and she had stories to tell the world. By informing people of Trujillo and the terrible things he did. She had to make a choice: To tell the world about something that could happen again (which could risk the safety of her family) or to be silent (assure the safety of her family). She chose to have a voice and to not be silent. And when her mother started crying tears of joy, Alvarez realized that she made the right