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Theme Of Before We Were Free By Julia Alvarez

516 Words3 Pages

“I wonder what it would be like to be free? Not to need wings because you don’t have to fly away from your country?”. Before we were Free is a novel written by Julia Alvarez. This book is about an adolescent girl named Anita. Anita and her family live in the Dominican Republic. Anita lives with her Papi, Mami, Mundin, Lucinda, and Chucha. Most of Anita’s relatives have moved to other areas other than the Dominican Republic, mainly the United States. Now it’s Anita’s turn. Anita’s family strives to escape and be free from the dictator, El Jefe. She risks everything in order to obtain freedom. She loses things she values most, though she remains gallant through it all. Julia Alvarez helped me comprehend the theme of this novel with 3 simple elements of the story which are character, conflict, and tone. …show more content…

It’s Anita’s first person POV. Her thoughts and actions helped me grasp the meaning of the theme. In the novel Anita loses her Papi on her journey to freedom and she asks herself “How can I really be free without Papi in my life?”. Anita was very mournful for when her Papi died, though she tried her best to be cheerful, even though at times she couldn’t. Another main character in this novel is Mami. “She looks so sad and thin..” She referring to Mami, has also been defeated after the passing of Papi. Both Anita and Mami are dynamic characters in this story and have impacted the theme of this story. Character is very major in understanding theme, though another important element is

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