Reading Response #1

Reading Response #1

The book Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez is about a pre-teen girl named Anita living in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. She lives with her big family in a family compound, but throughout the story, many family members leave. This is to escape the tyranny of El Jeffe, the dictator of the Dominican Republic. Anita and her family hate El Jeffe, so much so that Anita’s father and uncles make a plan to murder him, and eventually succeed in doing so. The story follows Anita’s point of view as she adapts to growing up in this chaotic environment. Throughout the story, Anita’s family’s maid, Chucha, has dreams that can tell the future. This makes Chucha a very mystical figure. She also represents many of the feelings Anita feels as she matures. The feelings that Anita experiences that Chucha represents are hope, mystery, and anxiety.

First of all, Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of hope. In the story, Chucha has a dream that predicts who will get to escape the Dominican Republic. In it, as Anita describes it, “First Lucinda [her sister], then Mundín [her brother], then Mama and I sprouted wings and flew up into the sky.” As stated, Anita is last to leave, and, sure enough, she is last to leave in the story. This represents Anita’s hope because throughout the story, as her other family members leave before her, she reminds herself that she’ll get to leave too, thinking of this dream and staying hopeful to herself. Overall, this is why Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of hope.

Second of all, Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of suspicion. At the beginning of the book, Anita doesn’t know of her father’s and uncles’ plan yet, or even of the terrible things El Jeffe’s done. But since the rest of her family does, she gets suspicious when they stop talking as she enters a room or meet with each other secretly in another part of the compound. Whenever events like this happen and Anita asks Chucha why, Chucha will respond, “Mi secreto, tu silencio,” meaning my secret, your silence. This is a very vague and suspicious response, just telling Anita to keep quiet about the subject. Another reason why Chucha represents suspicion is because she is just a very weird and suspicious person in general. She sleeps in a coffin and wears purple clothes every single day. This sometimes gives the compound an eerie and suspicious feeling when Chucha’s around. All these things show how Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of suspicion.

Lastly, Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of anxiety. Going through her pre-teen years in the compound, full of plans of murder and the heartbreak of families leaving, it would be natural for Anita to feel anxiety. Chucha represents this anxiety by worrying for the family and trying to keep calm, just as Anita is doing. In one scene towards the end of the book, Chucha is seen praying. This is a way she calms her nerves. She says, “San Miguel, . . . protect this house from all enemies. Expel the bad. Bring all to safety who dwell within. Amen.” Praying to protect the house and to bring safety are the things she wants since she is anxious they’re not safe. This is why Chucha represents Anita’s feeling of suspicion.

In conclusion, in the book Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez, the character Chucha represents Anita’s feelings of hope, suspicion, anxiety. The way Anita grows up is probably one of the hardest ways for a young woman to grow up. The feelings that a girl her age would experience in real life are magnified even stronger by the craziness around her. It’s nice to have a woman like Chucha to understand.