Summary Of Before We Were Free By Julia Alvarez

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I read the book Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. Anita, an eleven year old girl, is suddenly sent into a very scary and unknown world, right in her own home. Her cousins are running away to the United states, but to get away from what? Her parents are keeping secrets and she tries to get information from her sister, but finds out very little. Anita finds herself struggling when she is forced to grow up very quickly and try not to act as scared as she feels at times. Through the view of a young girl, this story really captures what it’s like to feel like immigration is the only option for a family. In the story, set in the 1960’s, Anita lives in the Dominican Republic, a country with a dictator named el jefe. One day at school, Anita’s cousin is called out of class, and Anita is asked to go with. She finds out that her …show more content…

One day, he sends Anita’s sister flowers, and right away, she flees to the states so she will not be hurt by el jefe. After many nights of her father and uncle and their “friends” having serious discussions outside Anita’s bedroom window, she finds out that it is they who are trying to kill el jefe! Anita has always looked up to el jefe because she thought he was supposed to be a good leader and somewhat of a god to them, so this news was upsetting to her. This part of the story shows how bad a dictatorship can get. Anita’s father and others disliked him so much, they formulated a plan to assassinate him. It’s scary to think that people would rather murder their leader than leave their own country. I think this is why Anita’s father wanted to stay when some of their family was moving to get away from the country. It makes me wonder though, if one’s country is a dictatorship, is it a lot harder for them to emigrate? I would think the dictator would be angry at them for leaving his country. But then again, I’m not an expert on

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