How the García Girls Lost Their Accents Foreignness and 'The Other' Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

This is what she has been missing all these years without really knowing that she has been missing it. Standing here in the quiet, she believes she has never felt at home in the States, never. (1.1.59)

Yolanda seems like she's having a really emotional moment, here. But does she really believe what she says here? That she's never felt at home in the States? Ever? And that this—this view of the island hills—is what she's been missing all her life and will make her feel complete? Um... we doubt it.

Quote #2

The radio is all static—like the sound of the crunching metal of a car; the faint, blurry voice on the airwaves her own, trapped inside a wreck, calling for help. In English or Spanish? she wonders. (1.1.62)

Something about not knowing what language she should speak goes along with the idea of feeling like she's "trapped inside a wreck." We're getting the idea that Yoyo isn't happy with the way her life has been going, and also that she feels caught between two cultures.

Quote #3

Supposedly, the parents were heavy-duty Old World, but the four daughters sounded pretty wild for all that. (1.3.41)

The García girls—and here Clive—refer to their parents several times as being "Old World." (Is that kind of like old school?) This term seems to express their foreignness and their old-fashioned-ness, all rolled into one.