Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Beloved World, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Optimism, Determination, and Adversity
Family and Friendship
Education and Learning
Puerto Rican Identity and Culture
Morality, Justice, and Giving Back
Summary
Analysis
Sonia finds the DA office’s mission alluring. She gets to help protect the public, though the 15-hour days distracted her from her troubles with Kevin. After her divorce, Sonia begins to examine how her job is changing her. She notices that her colleagues are often cynical and desperate. She and her colleagues look for the worst in people, and she can see that she’s hardening and becoming less sympathetic. She begins to doubt the value of her job when one day, she opens a file and sees that it’s a man she already convicted—and after getting out of jail, he committed the same crime again. Now, it’s a felony. It starts to make everything seem futile.
Seeing that a man will go to jail for committing the same crime again begins to make Sonia think that the justice system she believes in so strongly doesn’t actually work the way it’s supposed to—clearly, jail wasn’t enough to deter this man from committing the crime a second time. She also draws on her ability to reflect and examine herself, which is why she’s able to notice that she’s becoming a bit cynical and less sympathetic. However, noticing is only the first step—she now has to decide what to do about it.
Themes
At this point, being a judge seems like a worthy and even attainable goal. Sonia sets her sights on the federal bench, though getting there will be difficult. Most federal judges either come from prominent law firms or careers in government, so Sonia decides to move to civil law to gain experience. Bob Morgenthau tries to dissuade her. He doesn’t know she wants to be a federal judge and says that if she stays, she could become bureau chief and then a state judge. He assigns her several high profile, challenging cases to delay her departure. The first is an investigation of police brutality, brought by a Harlem minister. She doesn’t prosecute, but through her attempts to find witnesses she begins a practice of cultivating better relationships with the community.
The outcome of this first trial would, in theory, help Sonia see that her job isn’t entirely useless. She may not prosecute, but she does begin to create some positive changes in the relationship between the DA’s Office and the community. This is essential if Sonia and her colleagues want to truly serve their community—if the community doesn’t trust them, the DA’s Office can’t do their jobs at all. Bob Morgenthau’s imagined trajectory for Sonia speaks to how highly he thinks of her, and how he’ll likely support her if he ever does get wind of her aspirations.
Themes
Second is Sonia’s first murder trial, the case of the Tarzan Murderer. She’s the assistant prosecutor. When the perpetrator is arrested, he’s on parole for violent crimes and has a $200 per day drug habit. He ruins the lives of his victims and their families by robbing them and shooting anyone at home. The trick is to prove it’s the same perpetrator in each of the 11 incidents. They decide to file to try all of them together. Sonia makes the case to Judge Rothwax and he agrees to let Sonia prosecute the 11 incidents in one trial—proof, Sonia believes, that she can now think like a lawyer. They find 40 witnesses to testify and Sonia visits their apartments to see the damage. It’s heartbreaking. The Tarzan Murderer himself is disturbing. He clearly feels no remorse and Sonia is glad that he receives 67 years in prison.
For Sonia, this case is proof that she’s able to synthesize information, appeal to people’s emotions, and use logic to convince individuals like Judge Rothwax that what she thinks is correct—in short, all the makings of a lawyer. However, she can’t forget that this isn’t just about her own personal successes. She’s getting a violent murderer off the streets, potentially for the duration of his life, and making sure that no one else has to suffer as his victims’ families have.
Themes
The last of the cases concern child pornography. Sonia discovers that while it’s easy to understand that child pornography is amoral and uniquely awful, it’s hard to understand the extent of how horrible it is until one sees it. Sonia knows she has to get the films admitted as evidence in order to convince the jury to convict and focuses her attention on building her argument that the defendants are guilty. The first, Scott Hyman, is the retail front of the operation and was caught by an undercover cop. His partner, Clemente D’Alessio, is harder to pin down; the evidence against him is circumstantial. The investigation and police work is sloppy, but Sonia has a recorded phone call between Hyman and D’Alessio that clinches her case.
The child pornography case gives Sonia clear moral standing—she doesn’t have to convince the jury that what Scott Hyman and Clemente D’Alessio did was wrong; she just has to convince them that these men are the ones behind the crime. If she’s successful, she’ll be able to remove some evil characters from her community and make it a better place. This case, then, begins to show the difficulty of her job: she has to take on these emotionally taxing cases if she wants to truly feel like she’s doing something, and that’s not sustainable.
Themes
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Sonia is unusually nervous for opening arguments. She takes six days to present her evidence. She has recordings of Hyman boasting about how easy it is to get the films and plays the recording of Hyman and D’Alessio’s conversation. Finally, she shows 13 films. They’re horrifying; a journalist sitting in to research a book takes off her glasses and refuses to watch. Sonia’s closing argument runs two hours. The jury finds the defendants guilty. Everyone expects this, so Sonia puts her efforts into making sure D’Alessio and Hyman receive as much jail time as possible. She makes the moral case that the children were robbed and raped, and both defendants serve jail time. After this case, Sonia refuses Bob Morgenthau’s offer to let her head an office focusing on child pornography. It’s time to move on.
As she describes this case, Sonia makes it clear to readers unfamiliar with the legal process that getting a guilty verdict from the jury is only the first step. Where it counts, especially in a case like this, is in the sentencing. In that situation, Sonia has to make the case to the judge that they should give D’Alessio and Hyman as much time as possible to keep them off the streets and protect vulnerable children. Bob Morgenthau’s offer to let her head a child pornography office speaks to Sonia’s success, but again, part of maintaining her optimism and willingness to work means knowing when to quit.
Themes
Sonia takes a trip to Puerto Rico. Her thoughts, however, are with Nelson in New York, who cleaned up after joining the military. He married, had a daughter, and then was diagnosed with HIV linked to past needle use. Now, he remembers his childhood premonitions of an early death. As they chat, Sonia realizes that a person can be addicted to drugs and still function in society. She shares how she always admired his brilliance, but Nelson insists that he always admired Sonia—she could always study and learn something, but he doesn’t have her determination. Nelson admits that a few months ago, Sonia unknowingly drove him to pick up heroin. Sonia feels naïve as Nelson deliriously begs for forgiveness. In July, she wakes up and senses Nelson. Tío Benny calls with the news that Nelson died.
Nelson makes the case that his intelligence wasn’t enough to save him or to guarantee success. Without the determination to apply himself, he was lost and vulnerable to the allure of drugs and other vices. Seeing Nelson at the end of his life, however, forces Sonia to think about how she thinks of good and bad, especially when it comes to drugs. Unlike some of the people she likely prosecuted for crimes related to drugs, Nelson didn’t do awful things to other people—he, like Papi with alcohol, was too deep in the throes of addiction that he couldn’t help himself.
Themes
