Politics

The despite the deeply personal nature of the story, the narrative repeatedly examines political events that are relevant to the historical setting, thereby demonstrating significant connections between personal and political phenomena. For example, the inciting motivation for the main narrative is the political reality of the Dominican Republic in the 1960s. Towards the very beginning of the novel, the narration states that the Dominican Republic’s dictatorial leader (Rafael Trujillo) has been assassinated. The resulting power vacuum leads to a major increase in the country’s political instability: “Trujillo didn’t go in peace. La Capital is in chaos” (3). Thus, in order to establish a safer and more prosperous life, Ana’s family decides to immigrate to the United States. The experience of Ana’s family is very similar to many of Dominicans of this era. The novel thereby establishes itself as a personal/individual story...