How the García Girls Lost Their Accents: 6. A Regular Revolution Summary & Analysis

For almost four years after moving to New York, the girls’ parents are on green cards, and they believe the move to be temporary. Eventually, a revolution breaks out on the Island, and the parents decide to stay in New York. The father says he will become “un dominican york.” The girls don’t want to stay in New York—they move from neighborhood to neighborhood and don’t have nice belongings. They don’t feel like they’re experiencing a true American lifestyle.

At school in New York, the girls experience racial slurs and have encounters their parents find inappropriate (including having friends who talk about using tampons) that prompt their mother to send them to an expensive prep school in Boston. The American private school students are rich, and—since the girls are foreign—the other students assume the girls’ family became rich by being related to a corrupt leader. Despite this, the girls adapt quickly to American teenage culture once they’re away from home. They no longer want to go back to the Island, but their parents make them go every summer to stay in contact with their family.

The three older girls go to an all-girls college after high school. Their parents call frequently, as an attempt to keep them in line. The girls lie to their parents about what they’re doing, but they all still get in trouble often. Their offences include staying out at night, smoking, using hair removal cream, and reading about celebrating the female body. The girls stay up late the night before they leave for their last summer on the Island. As a joke, they translate their relatives’ names into English when they talk about them, calling Tío Mundo “Uncle World.” Their mother chides them, stressing the importance of their family and origin. Sofia contemplates bringing marijuana on the plane and hiding it under tampons so that security won’t find it.  She decides against it, and absentmindedly leaves the baggie behind a bookshelf.

After a few weeks on the Island, the girls’ aunt says that their mother is on her way from New York because she is upset with them. When their mother arrives, she says that she found the bag of marijuana. Sofia admits that it’s hers. Her mother gives Sofia a choice of punishment—either living with her parents in New York or staying on the Island for a year. Sofia chooses to stay on the Island because she is unhappy in New York. Carla thinks this is a bad idea, as it’s normal for teenagers to be unhappy. Carla is a psychology major, and she frequently gives psychological advice.

When the other three sisters visit the Island in the winter, they are shocked to see that Sofia’s style has changed dramatically. She didn’t care much about her appearance before, preferring to go against the grain, but now she wears a lot of makeup and has her hair done up. Sofia tells her sisters that she is dating their illegitimate first cousin. The girls are relieved to see that Sofia hasn’t changed after all—the fact that the cousin is illegitimate makes her relationship with him taboo and rebellious.

The other three girls like Sofia’s boyfriend, and their cousin, Manuel, when they meet him. They start getting too close to him for Sofia’s comfort, so they distance themselves. Soon, they realize that Manuel is controlling of Sofia. One day, he commands that Sofia stop reading a particular book, and Sofia yells at him in anger. Soon, though, she cries and asks for forgiveness. The other girls are not used to seeing Sofia in this state since she’s usually highly independent.

While Sofia is at Spanish class, the other girls confront Manuel. They tell him that women have rights, and he responds that men are still in charge.  The girls go out that night, and Sofia tells her sisters that Manuel refuses to wear a condom because he thinks they make men impotent. The other sisters are concerned because it’s hard to find birth control on the Island. If Sofia gets pregnant, the family will force her to marry Manuel right away. Later that night, the other three sisters get in the car with their cousin Mundín, and he drives them to a brothel. Everyone has a drink, and Mundín jokes about having group sex with each other. As they leave, they see Manuel and Sofia enter. This upsets the sisters, and the sisters go to a bar bathroom to formulate a plan to save Sofia. Sandra waves a pink hand towel like a flag.

On their last Saturday on the Island, the three girls are out again with Mundín and his sister Lucinda. They go to the same street where conspirators attempted to assassinate (but only injured) Trujillo (the dictator of the Dominican Republic) years before. Their father helped plan the attack but was already in New York when it happened. Lucinda, who’s in on her cousins’ plan, lies that she needs to go home because she has menstrual cramps. Mundín must drive her home, but he can’t leave the sisters unattended. If they all go home together, Sofia and Manuel will get in trouble since they are also not allowed to be unaccompanied. Mundín wants to protect Manuel, but the girls threaten to tell Mundín’s father that they all went to a brothel, so Mundín drives everyone home.

When the group gets home, the girls’ mother is furious that Sofia is alone with Manuel. She says that Sofia must go back to the U.S., and that none of the girls will go to the Island anymore. Tía Carmen argues, telling the mother that she enjoys the girls’ company on the Island. Upon hearing this, the sisters feel like they want to stay on the Island. The situation reminds them of an experiment from Carla’s studies in college, wherein monkeys are trapped in cages so long that they no longer want to leave, even when the cage door is open. The three girls feel guilty, but they know they made the right decision. Sofia is only 16 years old and doesn’t know what she wants yet. When Sofia gets home, she is angry with her sisters.