How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents includes the themes of minorities living in American society, the conflict of tradition versus change, and the role of the artist within society. The book is written by Julia Alvarez and she herself experienced being a minority living in the united states as a small child of 10 when she left the Dominican Republic.
The story concentrates on the Garcia girls. They are four daughters: Carla, Sandra, Yolanda and Sofia. Their lives are drastically changed when, as little girls they move to the states. They get caught up in the American way of things, much to their father's dismay. When he finds out that his daughters have become sexually active he feels ashamed and dishonored. It is something the girls think nothing about because they have been brought up submerged in American values (or lack thereof) He asked Fifi (Sofia) if she was a whore after he went into her sock drawer to "look for a nail clipper" and found her graphic love notes to her boyfriend, Otto. Both his strong Catholic Faith and his values from Mexico give him the frame of mind that pleasure is evil. He is furious when his daughters compromise his own values for their own pleasure and for the sake of conformity. At his birthday party, the girls began a game where Papi had to sit in the middle of the room blindfolded and guess who kissed him. The game went fine until Sofia, angry at her father's disapproval of her lifestyle, kissed him a little too seductively and he "...tore at his blindfold as if it were a contagious disease he might catch." pg 39. He is embarrassed for her public indiscretion.
Another example of tradition versus change in the novel is the tradition of Mami, Laura Garcia. She is a strict catholic, like Papi, and bringing her children to start a new life in America in the 1960's conflicted with her honor and loyalty and misplaced the virtues of purity and family. The girls "... grew up in the late sixties. Those were the days when wearing jeans and hoop earrings, smoking a little dope, and sleeping with their classmates were considered political acts against the military-industrial complex." Pg 28
The Aunt's values as opposed to Yolanda's are more protective and safe than anything else. Like Papi believes that Girls are weaker and need to be protected, so do the Aunts. The women buy into the stereotype also. They insist that Yolanda stop in regularly at relatives houses along the way of her car ride. She throws caution into the wind and continues along, by herself, independent of everything and everybody.
The role of the artist in the society is demonstrated through the character Yolanda. To get herself out of a bad past relationship, she turns to her art, literature, just as Asher Lev turns to his drawing. She becomes so obsessive with her art that, soon she will not stop reciting poems, even after she is admitted to a private hospital. "How tragic to die of a broken heart-attack. She tries to laugh, but instead of laughter, she feels ticklish wings unfolding like a fan at the base of her throat. They spread her mouth open as if she were screaming a name out over a great distance. A huge, black bird springs out; it perches on her bureau, looking just like the etching of the raven in Yo's first English poetry book." Pg 83