The motif of men being dominated and women having to please them allows Angie Cruz to convey the cycle of abuse into the context of the legacy of machismo. In Dominicana, Cruz challenges the effects of machismo on the lives of women in the Dominican Republic by offering a nuanced and complicated image of stereotype. Cruz addresses the legacy of machismo in part by means of Ana. Ana felt obligated to marry a much older guy in order to provide a better future for her and her family. Cruz presents Ana as a strong, independent, and brave woman who challenges gender norms throughout the entire book. Cruz challenges the idea that women need to be loyal to men in order to be respected by placing Ana's narrative at the center. Cruz uses various male …show more content…
Juan puts himself in a position to make Ana feel like she has to care for Juan by saying “If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself”. Keywords that I want to pull out for this analysis is “I’ll never forgive myself” mainly because Juan says that knowing he’s always in the wrong and Ana always backs Juan up in any situation. Juan is showing that he just wants Ana to feel some type of guilt. Juan is kinda putting those words against himself because he’s saying that to make Ana care or make it seem like he actually cares. Ana draws attention to the toxic traits of machismo and how it may feed harshness and the cycle of abuse through the character of Juan. When Juan and Ana get into an argument Juan hits Ana. which makes him say “I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to—- His fist is directed at my face. I cringe. His face turns red, and it's as if he has been waiting all day to find something to hit, to hurt, to yell at.” (Cruz 94). In this quote “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to” reveals that Juan ends up apologizing to Ana knowing that he’s going to end up repeating the cycle of abuse all over