How the García Girls Lost Their Accents Themes

Storytelling and language drive the narrative in How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, and they shape characters’ identities, too. Yolanda attempts to define herself through words, including her own name. At various points in the novel her friends and family call her “Yo,” “Joe,” and “Yoyo.” Each nickname corresponds to a different version of Yolanda’s identity—she is torn between her Dominican roots and American life. Yolanda finally decides that she prefers her full…

Political unrest in their home country of the Dominican Republic forces the García family to relocate to New York, where the four daughters come of age. There, they find that their newfound sense of safety comes at the cost of social tensions and personal sacrifices. In the face of newfound freedom, temptations, and pleasures, as well as societal pressure to fit in, the girls gradually shed aspects of their Dominican identities—they forget Spanish, lose contact…

1960s Dominican society is patriarchal, and when the girls are children they learn that women should be obedient, submissive, and focused on marriage and motherhood. However, the girls spend their youth in New York City during a major feminist movement, and they quickly adopt a feminist viewpoint. Carlos tries to strictly enforce patriarchy upon his daughters, viewing feminism as rebellion, and Yolanda compares her father to the cruel and violent dictator of the Dominican Republic—…

Both Laura and Carlos are from prominent wealthy families, and the Garcías’ lives in the Dominican Republic are remarkably privileged. They employ countless servants, many of whom are Black Haitians. The family thinks they treat their servants well, but the servants comment among themselves that they are underappreciated. The family sees themselves as superior to the servants rather than acknowledging that they themselves are merely fortunate to have been born into wealth. Yolanda’s aunts…