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Junior
Juli Sotomayor is Sonia’s father. During Sonia’s lifetime, Papi struggles with alcoholism and alcoholic neuropathy. He and Mami fight constantly, which makes Sonia anxious and watchful from a young age. She understands that Papi’s alcoholism is out of his control, so though she’s sad for him, she doesn’t resent him. This is partially due to the fact that Papi is still a dedicated parent; he takes on the work of shopping for and feeding the family, and he and Sonia often run errands together. He dies when Sonia is nine due to complications from alcoholism. It’s not until years later that Sonia learns about how bright, romantic, and full of life Papi was as a young man. She discovers that he was extremely talented at math, but his mother, Abuelita, wouldn’t allow him to leave to attend college on a scholarship—he was the firstborn and shared a special bond with his mother. He was an artist and a dancer, and he taught Mami how to love and be happy in a way that was entirely new to her. Though Sonia is sad to lose her father, she also recognizes that life will be easier without him.
Papi / Juli Sotomayor Quotes in My Beloved World
The My Beloved World quotes below are all either spoken by Papi / Juli Sotomayor or refer to Papi / Juli Sotomayor. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Prologue Quotes
If my parents couldn’t pick up the syringe without panicking, an even darker prospect loomed: my grandmother wouldn’t be up to the job either. That would be the end of my weekly sleepovers at her apartment and my only escape from the gloom at home. It then dawned on me: if I needed to have these shots every day for the rest of my life, the only way I’d survive was to do it myself.
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Chapter 6 Quotes
The heroes were admirable if flawed, as compelling as any comic book superhero to a kid who was hungry for escape, [...] these immortals seemed more realistic, more accessible, than the singular, all-forgiving, unchanging God of my Church. It was in that book of Dr. Fisher’s, too, that I learned that my own name is a version of Sophia, meaning wisdom. I glowed with that discovery. And I never did return the book.
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Chapter 8 Quotes
Now suddenly lessons seemed easier. It certainly didn’t hurt that I had spent the entire summer vacation with my nose in a book, hiding from my mother’s gloom, but there was another reason too. It was around that time that my mother made an effort to speak some English at home.
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Chapter 17 Quotes
It seems obvious now: the child who spends school days in a fog of semi-comprehension has no way to know her problem is not that she is slow-witted. What if my father hadn’t died, if I hadn’t spent that sad summer reading, if my mother’s English had been no better than my aunts’? Would I have made it to Princeton?
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Papi / Juli Sotomayor Character Timeline in My Beloved World
The timeline below shows where the character Papi / Juli Sotomayor appears in My Beloved World. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...for her, it’s just a threat to her childhood—which is already at risk due to Papi’s alcoholism and Mami’s reaction to it. However, living with this adversity leads Sonia to develop...
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...Prospect Hospital and by dropping the children off with family members when she’s not working. Papi’s neglect makes Sonia sad—she knows he can’t help himself—but Mami’s neglect makes Sonia angry. Mami...
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One day, when Papi is sick and Mami takes him to the hospital, Tío Benny and another uncle pick...
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Chapter 2
...Then, they walk back to Abuelita’s apartment and buy vegetables and an orange to share. Papi taught Sonia how to pick the best meat and fruit on their Friday shopping trips.
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Papi seldom comes to Abuelita’s parties and when he does, Sonia keeps an eye out for...
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Chapter 3
...She constantly gets in trouble even though she tries to keep to herself. For Christmas, Papi sends her to school with a gift for Sister Elizabeth, her teacher, but unbeknownst to...
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Chapter 5
...she and Junior head straight home from school. This is unusual—they usually go to Ana’s—but Papi is home sick from work. But when Sonia and Junior come around the corner, Moncho...
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...Blessed Sacrament. Abuelita cries constantly. Sonia feels almost sadder for Abuelita than she does about Papi. Monsignor Hart stops in, as does Dr. Fisher. Finally, Titi Aurora tells Sonia to say...
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The family says the rosary for Papi for seven nights at Abuelita’s. On the final night, Sonia falls asleep and wakes up...
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Mami and the children stay with Abuelita after Papi dies until finally, the building manager lets Mami move into a different apartment closer to...
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Chapter 6
...gives no clues as to what’s wrong. As far as Sonia is concerned, Mami and Papi did nothing but fight; she never saw them happy. Thus, Mami’s grief seems irrational. Abuelita’s...
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Chapter 7
Sonia says she didn’t understand Mami’s grief until nearly 50 years after Papi’s death. She knows now that her theory that everyone felt guilty was unsophisticated. As Sonia...
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...Carmin and Mami brave the subway to visit Carmin’s friends in the Bronx. Mami meets Papi there. He pays attention to her and they talk about reading. He begins writing her...
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Papi teaches Mami to dance and gives her lavish gifts. Once, he creates a sculpture of...
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...when the mannequin factory closes and when Mami moves the family to the projects. For Papi, the projects are an exile far away from his family. He was drinking before this...
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Sonia says that Mami couldn’t have paid for Papi’s funeral if Dr. Fisher hadn’t forced Papi to take out a life insurance policy. He...
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Chapter 8
...the windows are open, and the radio is playing. Sotomayor explains that the difference after Papi died was substantial. Suddenly, the constant conflict ends. Mami still works six days per week,...
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Though Mami recovers after Papi’s death, Abuelita never does. She wears black and never throws another party. Her eyesight begins...
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Sonia’s fourth grade teacher is unusually kind and doesn’t reprimand Sonia at all between Papi’s death and the end of the school year. By the time that Sonia starts fifth...
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On the first Christmas without Papi, Alfred helps Sonia carry a tree home. Papi always chose perfect trees; Alfred and Sonia’s...
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Chapter 16
...the work. In the weeks after Abuelita’s death, Sonia understands how devastated Abuelita was when Papi died. Sonia feels unmoored, but she can still feel Abuelita’s protection.
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