The poem “Sometimes the Words Are So Close,”(963) written by Julia Alvarez, discusses how words like a person can be stripped down and made uncomplicated. People are full of layers that surround them everyday. Each layer can be discarded one at a time, down to the bare essentials and in that space, people can be who they truly are. This is also where she explores her voice as a woman. Andrea Schaefer said, in reference to the “33” Sonnet collection, “...Alvarez further explores the themes of her voice taking flight and the powers of language to effect personal and political change. These poems more explicitly address her Dominican roots and her 'childhood in a dictatorship/ when real talk was punishable by death'...” During another interview, Alvarez stated; “...The page is where I learned to put together my different worlds, where I've put down the deepest roots...” Although born in New York, Alvarez lived in the Dominican Republic with her family for her first ten years. Unfortunately, they had to flee back to the United States as political exiles in 1960. On writing, Alvarez stated, “...Not understanding the language, I had to pay close attention to each word -- great training for a writer. I also discovered the welcoming world of the imagination and books...” Alvarez's poem addresses the two worlds she grew up in, the Dominican Republic and the United States and the differences of language in each. Through an implied metaphor, the speaker of the poem unveils herself, a line at a time, while simultaneously building upon the “figure”(7) of the poem to reveal at its core, a woman.
“Words”(1) are often difficult to form into speech, especially when there is a barrier of translating what they mean as opposed to what they say....
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The experiences she had when she was still living in the Dominican Republic combined with the separation from the country she immigrated to and the symbols of the fantasy of American life demonstrate her internal conflict further. The poem makes one wonder how they would have felt in the shoes of the subjects. Having to deal with a new style of living while leaving almost everything from the old one behind is something that many people are lucky to never have to go through. Many people, likely including Julia Alvarez, think they take that for granted. Her purpose for writing the poem was most likely to capture the readers minds and be thankful that these are things that they do not and will not likely have to deal
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